Core Module of China's Space Station to be Launched Soon

The Tianhe core module of China's space station and the Long March 5B Y2 carrier rocket that will be responsible for launch missions recently arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan Province and are scheduled to be launched in the first half-year of 2021.

The Long March 5B carrier rocket succeeded on its maiden flight in May 2020, which laid the foundation for space station construction.

Jiang Jie, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and an expert at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, said that construction of the manned space station is a complicated and large project and the combined launch of the Long March rockets is necessary.

It will be the first joint use of multiple types of rockets in one mission.

The three rockets are the Long March 5B, the Long March 7 and the Long March 2F rockets and they will be used to launch the core module, the cargo spaceship and the manned spaceship.

What's more, several rendezvous and dockings will be conducted during the construction, which requires extremely reliable pre-launch work of the sub-systems including the power and the control systems. The requirements are big challenges to the newly-developed Long March 5B and Long March 7 rockets.

After the launch of the core module, other missions including freight supply and manned spaceflights will also be arranged.

The in-orbit construction of the space station is scheduled to be completed around 2022.

Crews for the space station construction have already been selected and they are now taking training courses.

Technology development and solution verification of the lunar probe program will continue while construction of the space station is underway.

According to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China is expected to have more than 40 space vehicle launches in 2021.

The Long March 5B carrier rocket succeeds on its maiden flight in May 2020. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

A sketch image of China's space station [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)