By successfully launching a second manned space flight yesterday, Chinese leaders proved that they had a consistent space programme that was here to stay, foreign experts said.
'The launch shows that this was not a one-time deal. This is a serious programme,' said Joan Johnson-Freese, a Chinese space programme expert at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island.
'This demonstrates to the world that China is more than just about producing cheap sneakers. China is pursuing a manned space programme even though its cost is tenfold [that of an unmanned programme] for the same reason that the US pursued Apollo: prestige.'
Shenzhou VI's blastoff yesterday morning came two years after China put its first man into space for a 21-hour mission.
There has been no official announcement on the price tag of the latest mission, but Jiang Jingshan , a designer with the Chinese Lunar Orbiting Exploration programme, had earlier put it at 20 billion yuan.
China's ambitions do not stop at sending men into space. It has plans to send a man to the moon and set up a space station by 2020, Professor Jiang told the South China Morning Post. He added that the Chinese space budget was only one-eighth of the Americans' and it would therefore build a smaller space station. Dr Johnson-Freese said the Chinese programme was on the way to achieving its target of setting up a space station.
'In the manned [space] programme, China seems to have an advantage over the US just because of consistency,' she said. 'Manned flight is very difficult in a democracy because of the cost. By launching every two years they're [China] moving in a way that the US hasn't been able to demonstrate.'