# China was effectively shut out of the International Space Station after the United States passed the Wolf Amendment in 2011, so it built its own. If the ISS retires on schedule around 2030 and no commercial successor is ready, China's Tiangong could become the only permanently crewed outpost in Earth orbit.

> The International Space Station is still the larger and more international laboratory in orbit. Tiangong is smaller, newer, and controlled by one country.

- **Source:** [Spacedaily](https://spacedaily.com/t-china-was-effectively-shut-out-of-the-international-space-station-after-the-united-states-passed-the-wolf-amendment-in-2011-so-it-built-its-own-if-the-iss-retires-on-schedule-around-2030-and-no-comm/?utm_source=gearopen.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=feed&utm_content=6a4073bc37ca06743fdf52a0)
- **Published:** 2026-06-28
- **Category:** Science
- **Tags:** #china #international #orbit #space #station #tiangong #amendment #around
- **Canonical:** http://localhost:4321/a/6a4073bc37ca06743fdf52a0

---

_GearOpen's distilled summary. The full original article is published at Spacedaily (source link above); GearOpen does not republish the source's full text._