Coronavirus Outbreak Casts Shadow Over China's Space Industry

As the coronavirus outbreak shows no signal to be cooled off, the economy of China has to face many challenges due to the delay in transportation and manufacturing. With more than 30,000 patients and the number doesn’t seem to decrease anytime soon, the space industry in China continues suffering a load of adverse effects.

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The state-owned main space contractor China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) planned to carry out its production activities right after the Lunar New Year holiday had ended, but the research and production have been pulled up because of the implementation for battling the spread of Wuhan coronavirus.

Despite the fact that 2020 was set to be the most active year with about 40 launches, CASC reportedly will have to set some of these plans aside, which are parts of its space station-related, lunar, and interplanetary projects.

Not only CASC but also all companies located in China have to comply with the strict process of measures. At every facility in the country, elevators are even closed.  Employees and people must be stopped at checkpoints for body temperature monitoring. They almost wear medical face masks all the time while consuming packaged meals.

The restrictions on travel are meant to reduce commuting between areas. Millions of employees, therefore, cannot return to their workplaces. Other companies in the space industry of China like China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) fail to keep up with the scheduled works of designing, testing, and manufacturing rockets.

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