BEIJING, CHINA (Reuters) — China will put a second space laboratory in orbit in the third quarter of this year, part of the country’s plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday (February 29).
Advancing China’s space programme is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power.
Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 2 is expected to be docked with a cargo ship, Tianzhou 1 (Heavenly Vessel) which is scheduled to be launched in the first half of next year, state media Xinhua reported.
Scientist working on the Tiangong 2 explained the “mid-term space missions” they will carry out.
“Thirty days is internationally-recognised as the basic minimum for a mid-term residence (programme). We are using the support of people-transporting space ships to complete the tasks for a medium-term residence, so the storage capacity will have to be really large as what it’s going to carry will include the essentials for the astronauts to live. Additionally it needs to revolve around the people, that is to say, that when the people are residing in space we will need to create a comfortable, people-friendly working and living environment for the astronauts. We’re carrying out targeted designs along these lines,” said Zhu Zongpeng, the space laboratory systems chief engineer at the Aerospace Science Group Technical Research Centre.
China also plans to launch Shenzhou 11 spacecraft, which will carry two astronauts on board, in the fourth quarter of this year to dock with Tiangong 2, the Xinhua report said.
Xinhua, citing an unnamed spokesperson for the space programme, said China was expected to complete by 2020 an orbiting space station, to consist of a core module and two attached laboratories.
The first space lab, Tiangong 1, was launched in 2011, and has been working well, said Xinhua.
China’s space programme must still master launching cargo and fuel via space freighters and recycling air and water for extended manned missions, state media have said.
