China is well on track to launching its own space station by
2020, according to a top rocket expert.
Long Lehao, a renowned academic and a leading designer of Long
March 3A, the launch vehicle for the country's first lunar probe Chang'e I, described China's planned space
station as "a small-scale 20-ton space workshop".
It is the first time a timetable has been made public for the
building of the first space station, the third and final step of
the country's current manned space program, Long told China
Daily.
Former president Jiang Zemin announced the three-stage manned
space flight plan in 1992.
Marking the first stage were two manned space missions during
the last four years, including the first by Shenzhou V in 2003.
The second stage, planned for Shenzhou VII in 2008 with several
astronauts, will test spacewalking and other out-of-capsule space
missions.
After that, China will be a substantial step closer to
establishing its own space station, Long said.
It is expected to be the second operational one in the world
after the International Space Station and the only one run by a
single country, after Russia's Mir space station was decommissioned
in 2001.
The 400-ton International Space Station is a joint project of 16
nations: the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil and 11
countries from the European Space Agency, and orbits some 360 km
above Earth.
China has expressed interest in becoming the 17th nation to join
the project.
Long, one of the first researchers to push for heavier rockets
20 years ago, said he was optimistic about the space station plan
because China had made significant progress developing a new family
of rocket launchers.
He revealed that key technology breakthroughs - including the
yet-to-be-built powerful Long March 5 carrier rockets - had put the
project closer to production stage.
"Technologies for two key engines powered by liquid hydrogen and
liquid oxygen along with regular energy were found to be more
workable and reliable," Long said.
Each of the engines, one with a thrust power of 120 tons, and
the other with 50 tons, have already undergone significant ignition
testing, he said.
The carrier's increased diameter from 3.35 meters to 5 meters
would allow it to carry heavier loads including space stations or
heavyweight satellites, which the current Long March 3A rockets
cannot handle.
The new-generation Long March 5 rocket is likely to undergo
launch trials by 2013 and is expected to be the fourth most
powerful rocket in the world, after two developed by the US and one
by the EU.
"Heavier rockets are capable of lifting off more powerful
geosynchronous satellites with multi-transmitting devices and a
wider coverage of signal channels," Long said.
The Long March 5 rockets will be made in Tianjin.
(China Daily November 7, 2007)