October 3, 2005. Copyright 2005, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Planned launch set to advance China's space ambitions
By Mark Rutter

LONDON, October 3, Graphic News: China is set to send its second manned rocket into space in mid-October. The Shenzhou 6 rocket will carry two Chinese astronauts or ÒtaikonautsÓ, and will spend up to five days orbiting the Earth. If successful, this latest mission will see the country take another step towards its goal of landing a probe on the moon.

The Shenzhou, meaning Òdivine vesselÓ, was used for China's first successful test flight in space in 1999. Its design is based on the old Soviet Soyuz capsule. After three more unmanned test fights, China became only the third nation, after the former Soviet Union and the United States, to send a man into space when Yang Liwei orbited the Earth in Shenzhou 5 in October 2003.

The latest Shenzhou rocket will enable the taikonauts to move back and forth between the re-entry capsule and the orbiter. This should allow them to take advantage of the weightless condition in space to conduct a range of scientific experiments, something that was not possible on Shenzhou 5. As with much of the Chinese space programme, which is under the control of the military, few details of the mission have been released by the China National Space Administration.

Founded in 1956, the Chinese space programme is relatively low budget. Nevertheless, after launching its first man-made satellite on 24 April 1970, the country is now one of the worldÕs major players in aerospace technology. Although banned from participating in the International Space Station project, increasing economic wealth during the 1990s saw an acceleration in progress. Today China has a large infrastructure of space institutions, launch complexes and command and control centres.

In November 2000, the government published its outline plan for future space exploration. This strategy contained plans to send an unmanned probe to orbit the moon, perhaps as early as 2007, to draw up a three dimensional map of its surface. The orbiter mission will also be used to conduct scientific studies of the moonÕs composition and environment, and use radar to probe the sub-surface. The mission should identify suitable sites for landing a future unmanned craft around 2010. One of the long-term aims of this programme is to establish a permanent lunar base.

Undoubtedly, military considerations -- in particular the development of reconnaissance and surveillance systems -- are a key driving force behind the Chinese space programme. The U.S. intention to develop a national missile defence system in space is also likely to be a concern. Conversely, ChinaÕs ambitious space plans are causing some consternation in the United States, where NASA has just announced its blueprint to resume manned lunar missions. If China stays on schedule and lands a craft on the moon in 2010, it could go on to land a manned probe before the United StatesÕ intended date of 2018. The public, politicians and the aerospace industry in the U.S. might well perceive this as a loss of leadership in space, which could in turn see NASA getting additional resources to speed up its lunar programme. 

/ENDS