Project 921 Human Spaceflight Programme (Phase-III)

The proposal for Project 921 presented in 1992 outlined a three-step strategy in PRC’s manned spaceflight programme. The third phase of the programme aims to build a permanently-manned space station. The project has yet been approved by the government of the PRC . The PRC is also studying the concept of a next-generation reusable space-earth transport system comparable to the U.S. space shuttle system or defunct Buran system of the USSR.

China’s future permanently-manned space station will include a core module of 20 tonnes, roughly in the same scale as Zvezda, the core module of the International Space Station (ISS). Other systems include an unmanned cargo spacecraft, a manned spacecraft, and two scientific and experimental  [i don’t like functional here but don’t know what to replace it with??] modules. The total mass of the spacecraft will be under 100 tonnes. The core module and other modules will be launched by the new generation CZ-5 heavy-payload launch vehicle from the newly-built Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre in Hainan Island, which is expected to reach operational status around 2013~2015.

Advocates within the space industry claimed that a space station will secure China’s status within the global competition to reach and exploit outer space. However, some within the party and government has voiced their doubt as whether China really needs an expensive space station. The decision as whether to implement the project will have to wait until the early 2010s, when Project 921 Phase-II is completed.

Beyond Project 921

Although PRC space officials are reluctant to talk about future plans of the PRC’s space programme, some details that have emerged in the past suggest that Moon landing will be the next target. Currently the PRC is conducting its lunar exploration project—Chang’e, which has already successfully sent an orbiting probe to orbit the Moon in 2007. In the next phase, a lunar landing probe will be sent to explore the Moon surface. In the final phase, a lunar sample return mission is planned. On the basis of success of Project 921-III and the Lunar Exploration Project, the PRC will possess the technology to attempt a manned moon mission. Chinese scientists are planning to put first Chinese on the Moon as early as 2024, possibly followed by a permanent lunar base.

The Chinese space industry is also studying the concept of a new-generation reusable space-earth transport system, which may eventually replace the Shenzhou spacecraft currently in use. Images of an aerodynamic scaled model, ready to be launched from under the fuselage of a Hong-6A bomber, were first published on the Chinese Internet in December 2007. The system, expected to first fly around 2020, was said to be similar in concept to the U.S. space shuttle (vertical launch, horizontal landing), but is more reliable and economic than the latter. The space industry is also interested in a spaceplane with horizontal take-off and landing capability.

Last update: 28 September 2008