China to launch first space lab by 2016

A Chinese senior space
technology expert said Thursday
that China is expected to launch
its first space laboratory before 2016. " With the technological program ready, the lab' s research and development are going
smoothly," Qi Faren, former chief designer of Shenzhou
spaceships. As the second phase of China ' s manned space program, the lab, likely to be named Tiangong-2,
will gradually be developed into
the core module or experiment
module, said Qi. China is to launch its first
unmanned space module,
Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace,
in the second half of 2011,
serving as a platform for spacecraft to rendezvous and dock – allowing for the building of the space station. China will have its own space station before 2020, said Qi, a member of the 11th National
Committee of the Chinese
People' s Political Consultative Conference, before the annual
session of the country' s top political advisory body, which is
scheduled to open Thursday.