China will send its second orbiting space lab, Tiangong-2, into space in the third quarter of this year, a spokesperson for the manned space program said yesterday.
The vessel will later dock with a cargo ship scheduled to be launched in the first half of next year, it said.
Another part of China's space lab program involves the launch of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft — with two astronauts — in the fourth quarter of this year. This will also dock with Tiangong-2, the spokesperson said.
After its first test flight at the Wenchang satellite launch center in south China's Hainan Province, a next-generation Long March-7 rocket will put China's first cargo ship, Tianzhou-1, which literally means "heavenly vessel," into space in the first half of next year to dock with Tiangong-2 and conduct experiments.
During the process, China will verify key technologies including cargo transportation, on-orbit propellant resupply, astronauts' medium-term stay, as well as conduct science and application experiments, the spokesperson said.
Preparations for the space lab program are progressing steadily, the astronauts chosen to man Shenzhou-11 are receiving training, while the Tiangong-2, Shenzhou-11, two Long March-2F carrier rockets to be used to lift them into space, the Long March-7 rocket, and the Tianzhou-1 are either being assembled or undergoing assembly examination, the spokesperson said.
China's multi-billion-dollar space program, a source of surging national pride, aims to put a permanent manned space station into full operation by about 2022.
By about 2020, the construction of the country's first orbiting space station should be completed, the spokesperson said.
The space station is expected to consist of three parts — a core module attached to two labs, each of which will weigh about 20 tons.
China launched its first space lab, Tiangong-1, in September 2011 and over the following two years conducted two dockings with the module.
The Tiangong-1 lab is still in good working order, which enables it to remain in active service in orbit, the spokesperson said.
