China’s second space lab to go into orbit this year as part of permanent manned space station by 2022

China plans to put a second space laboratory in orbit during this year’s third quarter, the Xinhua news agency said yesterday as part of the nation’s plan to have a permanently manned space station in service by about 2022.

Advancing China’s space programme is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power.

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The second space lab, Tiangong (or Heavenly Palace) 2, was expected to dock with the country’s first cargo ship, Tianzhou 1 (Heavenly Vessel), which was scheduled to be launched in the first half of next year, Xinhua said.

China also planned to launch the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft, which would carry two astronauts on board, in the fourth quarter of this year to dock with Tiangong 2, Xinhua said.

After its first test flight in the Wenchang satellite launch centre in Hainan province, a next-generation Long March 7 rocket will put Tianzhou 1 into space.

Beijing would use the mission to carry out experiments to help test key technologies, including cargo transportation, the resupply of propellant for orbiting, and the medium-term stay of astronauts, as well as conducting “relatively large-scale” space science and application experiments, a space programme spokesman was quoted as saying.

The astronauts aboard Shenzhou 11 are to receive specialist training.