China on September 29 evening successfully launched its first space laboratory module, a key first step in its objective of becoming only the third country, after Russia and the United States, to assemble its own space station by 2020.
The unmanned module, launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwesternChina, will dock with a spacecraft, Shenzhou-8 after orbiting the earth for about a month, officials said. The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1, orHeavenlyPalace, laboratory module has a 15 cubic metre space where two or three astronauts can work and live, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The launch of the module, analysts said, reflectedChina’s rising ambitions as a major space power, with the country seen as only trailing theU.S.andRussiain its capabilities. Both theU.S.andRussialaunched their space stations more than three decades ago.
A commentary in the State-run Xinhua news agency hailed the launch as “the latest showcase of the nation’s growing prowess in space, and comes while budget restraints and economic tailspin have held back the once dominantU.S. space missions.”
The unmanned module, launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwesternChina, will dock with a spacecraft, Shenzhou-8 after orbiting the earth for about a month, officials said. The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1, orHeavenlyPalace, laboratory module has a 15 cubic metre space where two or three astronauts can work and live, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The launch of the module, analysts said, reflectedChina’s rising ambitions as a major space power, with the country seen as only trailing theU.S.andRussiain its capabilities. Both theU.S.andRussialaunched their space stations more than three decades ago.
A commentary in the State-run Xinhua news agency hailed the launch as “the latest showcase of the nation’s growing prowess in space, and comes while budget restraints and economic tailspin have held back the once dominantU.S. space missions.”
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