Thread: China announces a new 60 ton space station project to complete by 2020

Could China be filling the void that NASA has left?

The 18.1-meter-long core module, with a maximum diameter of 4.2 meters and a launch weight of 20 to 22 tons, will be launched first.

The two experiment modules will then blast off to dock with the core module. Each laboratory module is 14.4 meters long, with the same maximum diameter and launch weight of the core module.

"The 60-ton space station is rather small compared to the International Space Station (419 tons), and Russia's Mir Space Station (137 tons) which served between 1996 and 2001," said Pang Zhihao, a researcher and deputy editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine, Space International.

"But it is the world's third multi-module space station, which usually demands much more complicated technology than a single-module space lab," he said.

The office also said that China will develop a cargo spaceship, with a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters and a launch weight less than 13 tons, to transport supplies and lab facilities to the space station.

Pang said it is the first time that the office confirmed plans to build a cargo spaceship, which is vital for long-term space missions.

China announces a new 60 ton space station project to complete by 2020

Good... I'm glad that someone's picking up the ball.

Originally Posted by (R)IGHTeous 1

Yea....great....the nation that ultimately wants every bit of our current superpower status, and to kill us off, economically, diplomatically, and yes, literally.

NASA better get back on ball.......

Sorry, no. If China were to "kill off" its main export partner then the Chinese economy would quickly collapse.

Originally Posted by (R)IGHTeous 1

Yea....great....the nation that ultimately wants every bit of our current superpower status, and to kill us off, economically, diplomatically, and yes, literally. NASA better get back on ball.......

Then fund them. Space exploration costs money, and NASA funding is hovering around all-time lows.