CNSA - China National Space Agency logo.
Sept. 29, 2011
China has launched its space module lab called "Heavenly Palace" or Tiangong 1 which will remain in orbit for docking missions.
A Long March-2FT1 carrier rocket loaded with Tiangong-1 unmanned space lab module blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 29, 2011. (Xinhua/Wang Jianmin).
Long March-2FT1 carrier rocket loaded with Tiangong-1 launch
Commander-in-chief of China's manned space program Chang Wanquan announced Thursday night that the launch of Tiangong-1 space lab module is successful.
Reaching for the stars
Tiangong forms just one part of a much broader Chinese space exploration programme.
"Chinese acquisition of new technologies is not just for their intrinsic value, but because the leadership see them as symbols that distinguish great powers from their competitors ”
In 2007 China put the Chang-e 1 satellite into orbit around the Moon. It surveyed the Moon for two years before being deliberately crashed into the lunar surface in March 2009 as part of China's research into developing a robotic craft to return lunar samples, a mission likely to take place around 2014.
In 2017 China is due to land a lunar rover and there are longer term plans for a manned lunar base. In 2013 Yinghuo-1, a joint Chinese-Russian robot probe to Mars, will be launched. The manned space programme is crucial to achieving China's long-term political goals.
The successful orbiting of a "taikonaut" (Chinese astronaut) in 2003 was a dramatic assertion of China's rise. China became only the third country in history to orbit one of its own astronauts using a domestic launch technology.
Tiangong-1 Space Lab In Orbit
China plans to orbit its own 60-tonne space station by 2020 and the purpose of the series of smaller Tiangong stations is to develop expertise in docking manoeuvres and longer term human spaceflight. The Tiangong-1 is an essential step toward the goal of building a space station.
Going it alone
China is the only country currently building a space station by itself, and with a clear plan to land humans on the moon.
For more information about China National Space Agency, visit: http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n615709/cindex.html
Images, Video, Text, Credit: CNSA / News.cn / BBC / ITN / Orbiter.ch.
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