China to launch space station next year

Xin Hunanet: China plans to launch Tiangong 1 (Heavenly Palace), an 8.5- ton unmanned space module, next year, which will eventually form the basis of a permanent space station.

The module is being used to test China's docking capability. After Tiangong 1 has successfully docked with three Shenzhou spacecraft, which are expected to be put into space within two years following the module's launch, additional modules will be added to expand the station's size to about 20 tons, said Qi Faren, former chief designer of the Shenzhou spacecraft.