China will soon have two space laboratories in service and is selecting engineers to join itsthird batch of astronauts, a senior space official said on Friday.
"The Tiangong-1 space lab is in good condition, its equipment is functioning normally andfuel is sufficient for further operations," Wang Zhaoyao, director of the China MannedSpace Agency, told a news conference in Beijing on the third anniversary of the Tiangong-1mission.
"We will closely monitor the lab's condition and arrange experiments for it so that itslifespan can be extended for as long as possible."
Wang said scientists believe that Tiangong-1 is capable of working in space for aconsiderable period, long enough to await the launch of and cooperation with Tiangong-2,which is due to be put into orbit in 2016.
"Our scientists and engineers are planning some experiments and tests to be performed bythe two space labs," Wang said.
He Yu, head of the space laboratory systems research team, said equipment on Tiangong-1has been so reliable and stable in the past three years that there has been no need toactivate backup equipment.
"Our engineers had to shut down the main equipment so that they could test the backups,"He said.
Tiangong-1 was launched in September 2011 with a designated lifespan of two years. It hassuccessfully conducted six automatic and astronaut-controlled dockings with theShenzhou-VIII, Shenzhou-IX and Shenzhou-X spacecraft.
The space lab is evidence of the nation's technology in designing, manufacturing, managingand controlling the low-orbit, long-life manned spacecraft, Wang said.
Zhou Jianping, chief designer of the manned space program, told Xinhua News Agency thatthe next major step is the launch of Tiangong-2. After this, China's first cargo spacecraft,Tianzhou, will be sent to serve Tiangong-2.
He said Tiangong-2 will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the InnerMongolia autonomous region. It is planned to send the Tianzhou cargo vehicle into spaceatop the Long March 7 rocket - which is under development - from the new WenchangLaunch Center in Hainan province.
If all goes well, the nation will launch the core module of its space station in 2018, and thestation will become fully operational around 2022, Wang said.
zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn
