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China’s 2nd space lab to fly in 2016
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CHINA plans to launch its second orbiting space laboratory in the next two years, a top official said yesterday.
“We will launch the Tiangong-2 space lab in 2016, and later send Shenzhou-11 and the Tianzhou-1 cargo spaceship to dock with it,” astronaut Yang Liwei said at the Association of Space Explorers congress in Beijing.
Yang became China’s first man in space aboard Shenzhou-5 in 2003, and is now deputy chief of the country’s Manned Space Agency.
China plans to launch an experimental core space station module in 2018 and finish construction of a space station around 2022, said Yang, who is also chairman of the organizing committee for the 27th annual meeting of the ASE.
This is the first time China has hosted the meeting, which has attracted almost 100 astronauts from 18 countries, indicating the country’s progress in the field.
The development of Tiangong-2, Tianzhou, Shenzhou-11, and the Long March 2F carrier rocker is at a key stage, while astronauts and ground facilities will soon start preparing for their missions, Yang told the meeting.
A new launch center in south China’s Hainan Province is almost completed while testing of the core experimental module will begin soon, he said.
Niu Hongguang, deputy commander-in-chief of China’s manned space program, said the design of the space station is well under way.
“We have designed the space station in such a way as to allow spacecraft from other countries to dock with it,” Yang said.
“We want to cooperate and share our success in manned space missions with the whole world,” he said.
Former Romanian cosmonaut and current ASE Chairman Dorin Prunariu said he is looking forward to working together.
“We are very happy to cooperate with China in the field of aerospace,” he said.
Andy Turnage, ASE executive director, said: “Though we speak different languages, we have the same goal, and that is to explore space.”
Several countries have already reportedly been in contact with China about the possibility of collaborating in space.
Yang said that China views such global cooperation as being “of great significance.”
“We really want to get involved in international exchanges and cooperation with other countries ... and in the future we will take a much more open attitude to that,” he said.
Also, as China’s first batch of astronauts nears retirement, Yang said a new generation is preparing to take over, and more of them will be women.
The ASE was established in 1985 by astronauts from the United States and former Soviet Union to facilitate global communication and cooperation. It now represents 396 astronauts from 26 countries.
China introduced its manned space program in 1992. Since 2003 it has sent 10 people to space, including Liu Yang, who in 2012 became the first Chinese woman in space.
The country launched its first space lab, Tiangong-1, in September 2011, which successfully docked with the manned Shenzhou-9 in 2012 and Shenzhou-10 in June of last year.
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