China has hinted that its new space station could launch into orbit later this year, sooner than previously thought, on a commercial-grade rocket that is designed to be more affordable than private rocket launch companies such as SpaceX. China's current space station, Tiangong-2 space lab, was launched in 2016 and is due to be de-orbited in the second half of 2019. However, China wants in on the lucrative commercial rocket launch business and intends to make the Long March-5B rocket available to private companies to launch single or multiple satellites. Though smaller than the International Space Station, CSS will have a main cabin called Tianhe-1 (Milky Way), which was shown off last year, and two laboratory modules. "China is committed to making the country's space station an international platform for scientific and technological cooperation, according to the CMSEO," reports the Xinhua News Agency.

Source: Forbes March 05, 2019 13:41 UTC