Up, Up and Away Click - Short Edition

of the annual Asian economic forum

being held in Vietnam.

In around 10 minutes

it's time for Newswatch.

First, though, here's Click

Welcome to China, to Shenzhen.

Believe it or not, this place

was once a small fishing village.

Yeah...

Not anymore.

Now, it's a mega-city

of nearly 20 million people.

It's most famous for creating

consumer electronics,

often imitations of premium brands.

But as China has opened its doors

to international trade in the last

decade, it has undergone

a transformation, making strides

toward becoming a global power

and moving away from that image

of being a simple manufacturer

of good, fake or otherwise,

to one of innovation,

especially of tech.

"Made in China" is fast becoming

"Designed in China."

Next week, we'll visit some

of the companies that call Shenzhen

home, but this week,

we are meeting this guy.

This is Little Cloud, and recently,

he's gone where no turtle

has gone before.

He's just completed a test flight

of a journey that one day might take

humans to near space.

This is Kuang-Chi's

Traveller Project.

We have seen this kind of

stratospheric helium project before.

We visited WorldView

in the US back in February

to see their enormous inflatable.

I think you have the

world's biggest table.

And a Spanish outfit,

Zero to Infinity, is also

trying something similar.

So why does the Traveller Project's

director feel he can beat

them to it.

We want to be the first one.

We need to try hard

to become the first one.

Because, in Shenzhen,

the environment is very good,

and a lot of people

want to do big things.

And the government supports us.

So, I think that Shenzhen gives us

a very good environment

to accelerate the progress.

The secret, though,

is also in the science.

Now, the balloon material

looks quite ordinary,

but of course, it's not.

It is a special kind of polyethylene

which has to resist the low,

low temperatures of

the stratosphere, damaging effects

of ultraviolet and ozone.

And tt also needs to be

able to stop the really,

really tiny molecules

of helium from escaping.

This kind of space tourism is billed

as being cheaper and safer

than rocket-based alternatives

being trialled by Virgin Galactic

and SpaceX.

Normal people, even

older ones, can do this.

You don't need a strong body.

You must be very strong to be

an astronaut and train for many

days and years.

However, this does not need that.

Why did you choose a turtle.

Ah, that's a good question.

Because the turtle has a long life.

Sometimes it can be living

for more than 100 years!

The turtle can live in water,

it can survive in an low-oxygen

environment.

Is it cruel to send

a turtle up there?

Hmm...

What can I say?

I just say we need to do this kind

of experiment before human beings

in the near space.

We need to pick up a kind of animal.

Hmm...

Well, as usual, not a great life

being an animal involved

in human exploration.

While these guys are busy trying

to win a race to space,

others are trying to put

a rover on the moon.

And, fortunately, this time,

it's not a real dog.

Now, you may remember earlier

in the year we visited the Indian

space start-up, Indus,

in their Bangalore warehouse.

They are one of five teams competing

for a $20 million prize

if they are the first company

to land and drive a robot

on the moon.

And one thing we learned

while we were there was that

to save costs, they're

sharing their rocket space

with a Japanese competitor, iSpace.

Well, now we're paying them a visit

to find out how they think they're

going to win.

This is the space suit.

And this is a hammer

to break something.

OK.

Well, with the important

stuff out of the way,

time to talk space.

What inspired you to

enter this challenge?

I have always been

interested in space.

I worked for a firm that

one weekend asked me,

why don't you help

in the lunar race?

It may be a small operation,

but what they lack in size

they certainly make up for in style.

It is not just the skyhigh rents

of Tokyo responsible

for the diminished dimensions

of the office, it is also

because their plan to hitch a ride

on the Team Indus lander means

iSpace only have to build the rover,

ideally one that is faster than Team

Indus.

Just put in a little bit of a weapon

on the side to bump them into a

hole. They are not prepared to cheat

but it definitely looks like a smart

ride.

A depth camera is being designed

to recognise unexpected rocks

and stop before it

collides with anything.

And because of a communications

delay of just over a second,

it will be steered and moved one

step at a time to give everyone time

to think as it gradually

moves across the surface.

Mind you, you still need the very

best pilots and technicians

in the business to command

and strive this thing.

Looks like I'm going

to scrape that rock.

Seriously?

Oh, man!

This is just a demo unit

for numpties like me to use,

but the real prototype

is being developed just

across the office

in the clean room..

And the one they build next will be

the one that actually goes

to the moon, well,

if nothing goes wrong,

say, by letting me touch it.

It is so light.

Just four kilograms.

Remarkable.

I am John Walker,

the Chief Engineer.

The worst thing that can happen

is we go to the moon

and for whatever reason

we don't get any function.

We are trying to win,

but at the end of the day,

we want to keep going back

to the moon again and again.

So we need that starting

point, we need data.

We need simulations.

That is why a huge part

of the mission's costs goes

towards testing, and that means

rigourous checks on the bespoke

wheels, control systems,

electronics, and perhaps most

crucially of all,

the communication system.

Of course, it is not just Team Indus

and Hakuto in the competition,

there is America's Moon Express,

Israel's Space IL, and Synergy Moon,

made up of six continents.

They all have contracts,

but when they take off

is anyone's guess.

It is very secretive.

What happens if you find out

they launch in November?

It is possible.

However, it is very difficult

to launch without any notification

beforehand.

So, I'm still very...

I am sometimes nervous

when they will make an announcement.

Yeah.

Just like the other teams,

iSpace is about more than just one

mission to the moon.

They are hoping that the data

they gather and the skills

they learn could have much more

profound complications

after the mission

whether they win or not.

We recognise this race is just

the start of everything

in the future.

And we think that the moon

is the best place to mine resources

and then supply resources

such as fuel into space.

This is the first step

for this establishment.

There is certainly a loss

that could go wrong.

Besides the perils of space,

they still need to waste a huge deal

of cashier on Terra Firma before

anything can take off.

One thing is for sure, though.

We are so excited about

this race to the moon.

But what has become apparent

is it is not just about getting

there first, it is not just

about the prize money,

it is just as important to get data

back and build up this knowledge

to be able to go there again

and again and again in the future.

And when these guys launch,

we are going to bring that to you.

That is it for this weak. There is

more on line. Have you ever wanted

to meet us in the flash? -- flesh.

Me either. This is where you can go

to the Click live show. You can see

some of the things we have wrought

to you on the show live on stage. --

brought. Thank you for watching. We

will see you soon.