Second manned space mission planned

China could send its second manned spaceship, Shenzhou VI, into orbit within one or two years in the wake of the successful Shenzhou V mission, senior officials said yesterday.

But Xie Mingbao, director of the China manned space engineering office, did not give details of the sixth Shenzhou spaceship, or how many astronauts it will carry.

And the Shenzhou VI mission is not planned to involve space walking and docking, said Zhou Xiaofei, director of the manned space engineering office under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, which is responsible for the development of the Shenzhou spaceship.

Some 18 billion yuan (US$2.17 billion) has been invested in China’s manned space flight programme since 1992 when the programme was launched, according to Xie.

Out of this total, 8 billion yuan (US$967 million) has been spent in building up the infrastructure needed by the programme, including test and control equipment and the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre.

The rest of the money was used to produce spaceships, rockets and electronic equipment which has been used during the five flights.

Xie revealed that the launch of the Shenzhou V cost a bit less than 1 billion yuan (US$120 million), while the previous four unmanned Shenzhou missions cost nearly US$100 million each.

Putting a human into space is the first step of three steps in China’s manned space programme, Xie said.

The second step is to achieve space walking and docking, develop and launch a space lab, and solve problems relating to its short- term use.

The third is to build a space station and solve problems relating to its long-term use.

Xie said in the efforts to master the techniques for space walking, docking and operating a space lab, China is willing to learn from Russia and the United States.

But China does not have plans to develop a space shuttle, he said.

And there are currently no plans for co-operation with Taiwan in manned space techniques, Xie said.

However, China is willing to promote any activities that benefit Taiwan people, he said, adding that Shenzhou V carried plant seeds from Taiwan.

Co-operation with Taiwan researchers in space breeding is good for the agricultural development of both Taiwan and the mainland and is in the interest of farmers on both sides of the Straits, he said.