China plans manned space station by 2020
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China plans Death Star for 2020
Military ambition behind China's bold decision to go it alone in space
China has announced its intention to complete construction of a "relatively large" manned space station by around 2020. The existence of the programme suggests Beijing has decided against collaborating with other space-faring nations to join the International Space Station already in orbit around the earth.
"After the construction of the space station, China's three-step manned space programme will be complete," a spokesman said. The mission will "promote China's scientific and technological progress and innovation, enhance overall national strength and make an important contribution to raising national prestige".
In August, China tested a module called Tiangong-1 - or 'Heavenly Palace'. It is expected to be launched in 2011, to be followed the same year by the Shenzhou-8 spaceship (shown above docking with the Tiangong in an artist's impression). The plan is for the two craft to meet in orbit and perform China's first space-docking - an essential manoeuvre to perfect in any space station programme.
The mission will be followed by further dockings with manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10, in 2012. It is hoped that by 2016, Tiangong-2, a space laboratory module intended to test living conditions for a future space station, will be sent into orbit.
If all goes according to plan, Tiangong-3, a "core cabin module" intended to accommodate Chinese taikonauts, will be attached to the space laboratory by 2020, to complete the space station.
Despite an annual budget of a mere $1.3bn - compared to Nasa's $17.6bn - China's ambitious space programme is coming on in leaps and bounds.
After launching its first manned space flight in 2003, China plans an unmanned moon landing in 2012, with a manned mission following in 2017.
China's plans for its own space station appear to put to rest any chance that the country would join Russia and the United States in maintaining the International Space Station. Last week, Nasa administrator Charles Bolden paid a six-day visit to China's space facilities, but no specific plans have been made to cooperate.
China's stand-offishness may in part be because of its military ambitions for space. As Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Virginia, and an authority on Chinese and Asian military affairs, told The First Post earlier this year: "China's space programme is controlled by the People's Liberation Army and almost every aspect is designed to produce 'dual use', or some kind of military benefit as well as non-military."
China plans Death Star for 2020
Military ambition behind China's bold decision to go it alone in space
China has announced its intention to complete construction of a "relatively large" manned space station by around 2020. The existence of the programme suggests Beijing has decided against collaborating with other space-faring nations to join the International Space Station already in orbit around the earth.
"After the construction of the space station, China's three-step manned space programme will be complete," a spokesman said. The mission will "promote China's scientific and technological progress and innovation, enhance overall national strength and make an important contribution to raising national prestige".
In August, China tested a module called Tiangong-1 - or 'Heavenly Palace'. It is expected to be launched in 2011, to be followed the same year by the Shenzhou-8 spaceship (shown above docking with the Tiangong in an artist's impression). The plan is for the two craft to meet in orbit and perform China's first space-docking - an essential manoeuvre to perfect in any space station programme.
The mission will be followed by further dockings with manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10, in 2012. It is hoped that by 2016, Tiangong-2, a space laboratory module intended to test living conditions for a future space station, will be sent into orbit.
If all goes according to plan, Tiangong-3, a "core cabin module" intended to accommodate Chinese taikonauts, will be attached to the space laboratory by 2020, to complete the space station.
Despite an annual budget of a mere $1.3bn - compared to Nasa's $17.6bn - China's ambitious space programme is coming on in leaps and bounds.
After launching its first manned space flight in 2003, China plans an unmanned moon landing in 2012, with a manned mission following in 2017.
China's plans for its own space station appear to put to rest any chance that the country would join Russia and the United States in maintaining the International Space Station. Last week, Nasa administrator Charles Bolden paid a six-day visit to China's space facilities, but no specific plans have been made to cooperate.
China's stand-offishness may in part be because of its military ambitions for space. As Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Virginia, and an authority on Chinese and Asian military affairs, told The First Post earlier this year: "China's space programme is controlled by the People's Liberation Army and almost every aspect is designed to produce 'dual use', or some kind of military benefit as well as non-military."
Military ambition behind China's bold decision to go it alone in space
China has announced its intention to complete construction of a "relatively large" manned space station by around 2020. The existence of the programme suggests Beijing has decided against collaborating with other space-faring nations to join the International Space Station already in orbit around the earth.
"After the construction of the space station, China's three-step manned space programme will be complete," a spokesman said. The mission will "promote China's scientific and technological progress and innovation, enhance overall national strength and make an important contribution to raising national prestige".
In August, China tested a module called Tiangong-1 - or 'Heavenly Palace'. It is expected to be launched in 2011, to be followed the same year by the Shenzhou-8 spaceship (shown above docking with the Tiangong in an artist's impression). The plan is for the two craft to meet in orbit and perform China's first space-docking - an essential manoeuvre to perfect in any space station programme.
The mission will be followed by further dockings with manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10, in 2012. It is hoped that by 2016, Tiangong-2, a space laboratory module intended to test living conditions for a future space station, will be sent into orbit.
If all goes according to plan, Tiangong-3, a "core cabin module" intended to accommodate Chinese taikonauts, will be attached to the space laboratory by 2020, to complete the space station.
Despite an annual budget of a mere $1.3bn - compared to Nasa's $17.6bn - China's ambitious space programme is coming on in leaps and bounds.
After launching its first manned space flight in 2003, China plans an unmanned moon landing in 2012, with a manned mission following in 2017.
China's plans for its own space station appear to put to rest any chance that the country would join Russia and the United States in maintaining the International Space Station. Last week, Nasa administrator Charles Bolden paid a six-day visit to China's space facilities, but no specific plans have been made to cooperate.
China's stand-offishness may in part be because of its military ambitions for space. As Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Virginia, and an authority on Chinese and Asian military affairs, told The First Post earlier this year: "China's space programme is controlled by the People's Liberation Army and almost every aspect is designed to produce 'dual use', or some kind of military benefit as well as non-military."
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