China launches Tianhe module, start of ambitious two-year station construction effort

[soryang]

Source: NASA Spaceflight.com

China launches Tianhe module, start of ambitious two-year station construction effort
by William Graham & Chris Gebhardt April 28, 2021

China launched a Chang Zheng 5B rocket with the Tianhe station core module to low Earth orbit, marking the start of an ambitious two year construction effort of the nation’s new multi-module space station.

Liftoff of the historic mission occurred at 23:18 EDT on Wednesday, 28 April — which was 03:18 UTC on Thursday, 29 April — from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Province island, People’s Republic of China.

Tianhe seeks “harmony of the heavens”

Launch of the Tianhe module marks a transition from China’s original human spaceflight goals to the start of a permanent presence in space. China is effectively banned from participation in the International Space Station program due to geopolitical strife with the United States.



Read more: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/04/china-station-construction-begins/

[oldsoftie]

1. Just more evidence of why we need to keep up in space.

Russia & China are both militarizing space. The US not keeping pace puts us at a horrible disadvantage. Like it or not