China will need ten launches to complete the space station

Earlier this week, China launched the core module for its new space station. This module is called Tianhe, which translates into the harmony of the sky. It was launched on Wednesday, April 28, using a long March-5B Y2 rocket from the launch site in the Chinese province of Hainan.

Tianhe is the first module of the space station that, when it is finished, will be significantly smaller than ISS in the current orbit. The module itself is the largest spacecraft ever developed by China, measuring 54.4 feet long, 13.8 feet wide at the widest point, and amounted to 22.5 tons in the elevatoroff. China now see an ambitious plan to complement the space station with the help of partner countries and will need ten launches to put all components for the space station to orbit.

The US is not one of partner countries working with China at the space station. China is not permitted to participate in international space stations since the beginning some of the worries that the nation will carry out espionage and steal technological secrets from partner countries. Ten additional launches that China will take place between 2021 and 2022.

The launch will include two more modules put into orbit, four crew missions, and four cargo ships flights. China will rely on three types of long march rocket to push ten missions to the sky.

Officials at the China Academy of Space Technology previously stated that the space station would support six astronauts at the same time. Chinese officials say that a sustainable president in orbit will allow the state to conduct research and do other services. The launch and deployment of the core module for space stations is praised as full success by Chinese authorities.