NEW DELHI: Asian giant China is planning to launch its first Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft through a
Long March-7 Y2
carrier rocket in April, in what will be a crucial test of key technologies needed for the country’s future space station,
Xinhua
reported on Monday.
The 13-tonne Tianzhou-1 will be launched by a new Long March 7 rocket from Wenchang in April, and dock soon after with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab 390 kilometres above the Earth, according to the China Manned Space Agency(CMSA) report.
"Tianzhou-1, independently developed by China, can remain in space on its own for as long as three months," CMSA said.
The main objective of the Tianzhou-1 mission is to test and verify on-orbit transfer of liquid propellant to Tiangong-2, which late last year hosted two astronauts for China’s longest human spaceflight mission so far.
If successful, the spacecraft will be another major step towards China establishing a permanent human presence in space, with the Chinese Space Station(CSS) planned to be completed by 2022.
It is capable of docking with the Tiangong-2 space lab and refueling it in addition to carrying out experiments and tests.
The Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket is scheduled to arrive at the launch center in March, the CMSA added.