China continues to press forward in its plans to loft an experimental space laboratory – and according to one space watcher, China’s Tiangong I may fly sooner than expected.
According to Gregory Kulacki, a senior analyst and China Project manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists, there are strong signs in Beijing that Tiangong I may fly before month’s end.
Kulacki has pointed out that Tiangong I is not the Chinese space station – nor will it be a part of the planned Chinese space station.
Rather, the 8-ton experimental spacecraft is designed as a test bed for the technologies China will need for its future space station program, including docking technology.
During the next two years, China is expected to launch three missions to the Tiangong I space lab. The third—and possibly second—mission is expected to carry Chinese astronauts to live and work on the Earth-circling facility.
Kulacki explains that at 8-tons, China’s Tiangong I is much smaller than the 80-ton U.S. Skylab, which was launched in 1973, or even the 22-ton core module of the Soviet MIR, which was launched in 1986.
Looking ahead, China currently plans to complete its 70-ton space station in the early 2020s.
“Coincidentally, that is about the time that the ISS is scheduled to be decommissioned. If both those things happen, China’s space station will become the de-facto new international space station,” Kulacki advises.
By Leonard David