14 DAY TRIAL // Officials of the Chinese government announce that engineers have just finished assembling the first module of the future Chinese Space Station (CSS).
According to the same sources, the unmanned Tiangong-1 module is currently scheduled for launch sometime in 2011, although a clear date has yet to be established.
Over the past couple of decades, China has turned its eyes to space more and more. A few years back it managed to conduct its first manned space mission.
Shortly afterwards, the first spacewalk featuring a Chinese astronaut took place, in 2008. Earlier this year, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced plans to build its own space station.
This construct, which will also feature military capabilities according to the announcement, will be made up of several modules, each of which will be launched individually.
The Tiangong-1 spacecraft is the first of these modules, the state-run Xinhua news agency reports. It also says that the next batch of Chinese astronauts is currently training to learn docking procedures.
These are very important steps in designing any orbital structures. The ISS and the Mir orbital facilities are/were all made up of several components, which had to dock to each other in order to form the larger structure.
This is not very easy to perform, but Chinese experts hope that they will be able to succeed in their endeavor.
Until then, more pressing concerns plague space officials, such as ensuring that the newly-completed module takes off on a Chinese Long March 2F carrier rocket, as planned.
The Tiangogn-1 module is currently scheduled to blast off to space in the first half of next year. It has a launch weight of 19,000 pounds (8,500 kilograms), officials documents indicate.
After the spacecraft launched, CNSA will also send an unmanned Shenzhou 8 vehicle to space, in a bid to demonstrate space docking capabilities.
If the two ships are mated successfully, then the Chinese would have a free hand in starting work on their first space station.
Launches will most likely take place from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, which is located in the Gobi Desert of Inner Mongolia, Space reports.