Musk Praises China’s “Advanced” Space Programme Ahead Of Beijing Visit

Elon Musk reached Beijing on Tuesday morning, according to news agency Reuters.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that China space programme is “far more advanced” than most people realise. Mr Musk was reacting to a tweet of Chris Hadfield, a former astronaut of the Canadian Space Agency, who quoted a news report to say that China will be able to set foot on the Moon by 2030. The report was published in Chinese state-run publication CGTN and cited Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the country’ lunar exploration programme as saying that achieving the 2030 target is not a problem.

“The China space program is far more advanced than most people realize,” Mr Musk said in his tweet.

The China space program is far more advanced than most people realize

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 29, 2023

His tweet comes days after Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, said at a press conference that China’s space authorities “have launched the manned lunar programme” and “plan to send astronauts to the moon before 2030”.

Mr Musk, meanwhile, landed in Beijing on Tuesday morning on his private jet, according to news agency Reuters. This is the billionaire’s first trip to China in three years – he danced on stage during an event at Tesla’s Shanghai factory in early 2020.

During the visit, Mr Musk is expected to meet senior Chinese officials and visit Tesla’s Shanghai plant, the news agency further said.

Tesla, however, has not issued any statement on whether its CEO arrived in China.

But Mr Musk’s private jet, a 2015 Gulfstream G650ER, was shown leaving Alaska on Tuesday morning Asia time before crossing over Japan and South Korea, according to ADS-B Exchange, a flight aggregation website.

China is Tesla’s second-largest market after the US, and the Shanghai plant is the electric car maker’s largest production hub.