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16 January 2012 - Although the Chinese government has yet officially committed itself to such a programme, manned lunar landing remains a long-term objective of the Chinese space programme in the 21st century. There have been speculations about a three-step strategy in China's lunar exploration programme, of which the current robotic lunar probe programme (Chang’e Project) is only the first step. Next China will attempt to land astronauts on the Moon by 2025, followed by a lunar base by 2030... [Read more...]
26 December 2011 - China is playing an increasingly dominant role on the world stage. Led by the growing strength of its economy, China is starting to be a major player in many areas, one of which is space exploration. China has taken a long time to get involved in the world’s space community. It was not until 2003 that they sent their first astronaut into orbit, when Yang Liwei took off from Jiuquan space centre in a Shenzou V spacecraft. Although that craft was based on a Russian design, the Chinese made significant modifications to make it their own. China’s space programme had begun... [Read more...]
Current Projects
Shenzhou
The Chinese manned spacecraft
Tiangong 1
The target vehicle for rendezvous and docking
Shenzhou 8
The unmanned mission to dock with Tiangong 1
Space station
The permanently-manned space station to be built in 2020
Astronauts
The astronaut selection and training programme for Project 921
Chang'e 3
The first Chinese robotic probe to soft land on the Moon
Dongfanghong 4
The 3nd generation high-capacity communications satellite
Compass / Beidou 2
The global navigation satellite system
CBERS / Ziyuan 1
The China-Brazil remote-sensing satellite programme
Ziyuan 3
The civil survey and mapping satellite programme
Yaogan
Radar and optical reconnaissance satellite programme since 2006
Changzheng 2
The medium-lift launch vehicle family
Changzheng 3
The medium-heavy lift launch vehicle for GEO and lunar orbit missions
Changzheng 4
The medium lift launch vehicle for SSO orbit missions
Changzheng 5
The next-generation heavy lift launch vehicle family
Changzheng 7
The next-generation medium-lift launch vehicle for manned and satellite launches
Wenchang SLC
The newly-built spaceport for the Changzheng 5 rocket