China's new manned spaceship is planned to have a higher capacity compared to other countries’ manned spaceships, as part of the Chinese space program’s goal to match other space powers. (Photo : Getty Images)
China continues to raise its stakes on space exploration through the development of a manned spaceship meant to facilitate moon landing and conduct low orbit around Earth. The move stands as an important step for the Chinese space program's development for the next decade.
Zhang Bainan, a spaceship engineer at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., said in a China Daily report that the new manned spaceship is planned to have a higher capacity compared to other countries' manned spaceships, as part of the Chinese space program's goal to match other space powers.
Apart from higher capacity, which can seat six people in low orbit missions around Earth and four in a moon landing mission, the new manned spaceship is planned to be recoverable. When finished, Zhang said that it will enable the Chinese space program, a late bloomer, to catch up with current standards.
Currently, only the U.S. has the capability to conduct a moon landing mission through its Orion spacecraft, as other countries' space programs have yet to create manned spaceships with the same capability. Zhang underlined China's goal to be at par with the rest of the world through its new manned spaceship.
Reuters reported that China intends to collect samples from the moon through the Chang'e-5 lunar probe announced this week, which is currently undergoing its last series of tests in time for its scheduled launching in August this year, said the China National Space Administration.
Hu Hao, who works as an official for the Lunar Exploration Program, described the Chang'e-5 lunar probe project as one of China's most challenging space missions since it is aimed at facilitating high-speed Earth reentry upon collection of samples from the moon.
China's ambitions for its space program has come a long way since its first manned space mission in 2003. Now, the Chinese are planning to explore the moon's dark side by 2018, construct a full-fledged space station by 2020, and send a manned spaceship to the moon by 2030.
