Passage One At 8pm Beijing time on 25 June 2016, the tropical darkness over China’s Hainan province was temporarily banished by a blinding orange light. Accompanied by the thunderous roar of engines, a 53m-tall rocket pushed itself into the sky. An increasing number of Chinese rockets have launched in the past few years but this one was significant for three reasons. It was the first launch of the new Long March 7 rocket, designed to help the Chinese place a multi-module space station in orbit. It was the first liftoff( 发射 ) from China’s newly constructed Wenchang launch complex( 综合发射场 ), a purpose-built facility set to become the focus for Chinese space ambitions. And it was the first Chinese launch where tourists were encouraged to go along and watch. For a space program that has long been shrouded( 保密 ) in secrecy, it’s a major step. The Wenchang complex has been designed with large viewing areas, and in the sultry heat of that June night, tens of thousands of spectators stood cheering as the rocket began its 394km journey above the Earth and into orbit. “China is developing very rapidly into one of the major space players,” says Fabio Favata, head of the program coordination office at the European Space Agency’s (ESA) directorate of science. China is estimated to spend around $6 billion a year on its space program. Although that is almost $1billion more than Russia, it is still a fraction of the American space budget, which is around $40 billion a year. Despite its large budget, the US made only 19 successful space launches in 2013, compared with China’s 14 and Russia’s 31. With numbers like this, it is clear that China has arrived in space, and is set to become stronger. So do the Chinese want to take over space? Brian Harvey, a space analyst, believes the Chinese simply want to be seen as equals. “To use a Chinese phrase, I think they are wanting to bring their own mat to the table,” he says. “They are looking for equality, they want respect from the world’s space community.”