Three Chinese astronauts wave to the crowd before boarding the Shenzhou-9 that will bring them to an orbiting space module. (Photo : www.pri.org)
The Chinese government is set to launch into space a cargo ship that will carry propellants and repair equipment to China’s orbiting space lab, Tiangong-2.
Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of the country's manned space program and also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that they will launch Tianzhou-1, following the space module that will be launched earlier next year.
China has been trying to perfect the cargo transportation system as a major technology in its space program as the country strives to make a breakthrough in building its own space station, Zhou added.
The country's space program is a multi-billion-dollar investment which has become the source of pride for the Chinese government and its people. One of its major aims is to establish and put into operation a permanent manned station in space by 2022.
In Sept. 2011, China launched Tiangong-1, its first space lab, and conducted two successful docking on the module in the next two years. After that, three Chinese astronauts on board the Tiangong-1 delivered a lecture in physics aboard the space lab.
Zhou said that the space cargo ship Tianzhou-1 will be carried through space by the next-generation Long March 7 rocket, probably in a new launch site being constructed in the southern Hainan Province.
The chief engineer added that research is currently in progress on the Long March 5 carrier rocket, which will be used to bring the Tiangong-2 space lab into space, including the space lab's payload.
Authorities are also presently going over the selection of astronauts who will participate in the mission.
