BEIJING: China launched its second experimental space laboratory and will send up another manned space mission next month, part of a broader plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022. Advancing China’s space programme is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power, and apart from its civilian ambitions, Beijing has tested anti-satellite missiles. In a manned space mission in 2013, three Chinese astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with an experimental space laboratory, the Tiangong 1, or “Heavenly Palace”. China will launch a “core module” for its first space station some time around 2018, a senior official said in April, part of a plan for a permanent manned space station in service around 2022. China has been working to develop its space programme for military, commercial and scientific purposes, but is still playing catch-up to the United States and Russia, established space powers.

Source: The Star September 16, 2016 01:07 UTC