China Aims To Launch Moon Probe This Year

DRAGON SPACE

China's Chang'e I.

by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) May 20, 2007
China aims to launch its first lunar orbiter later this year, part of a three-step plan it hopes will eventually see moon samples brought back to Earth, state media said Sunday. The launch of the Chang'e I, envisaged in the second half of 2007, would be a landmark for China's space programme, China's space agency chief Sun Laiyan was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

"The moon probe project is the third milestone in China's space technology after satellite and manned spacecraft projects, and a first step for us in exploring deep space," he said in the report.

Sun, speaking at Beijing Jiaotong University, said China's lunar exploration programme was divided into three phases: orbiting the moon, landing on the lunar surface and coming back to Earth with samples.

The orbiter represented the first phase, with a moon rover to be used in the second phase scheduled for around 2012, Xinhua said.

The plan for the third phase was for another rover to land on the lunar surface and collect samples before returning to Earth, said Sun, who is the head of the China National Space Administration.

China would continue to research manned space missions, including a space walk and experiments to link passing spacecraft, he said.

"Space technology reflects a nation's overall power and is an important facet of the modernisation of national defence," he said.

Source: Agence France-Presse

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DRAGON SPACE

China Approves Five-Year Space Development plan

Beijing (Xinhua) May 14, 2007
China's State Council, or the cabinet, approved the country's 11th five-year plan on space development, in principle, at a conference on Thursday last week. Addressing the conference, Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan stressed that the 11th five-year period (2006-2010) is key to China's space development.

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