China to conduct maiden space docking in 2011 expert

Monday, 29 August 2011 20:41 Written by People Daily

China will launch an unmanned space module, Tiangong-1, in the first half of 2011, and the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft in the second half of the year, to carry out the nation's first-ever space docking, an expert said here Wednesday. The Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spaceships, which are also expected to dock with Tiangong-1, would be launched in 2012, said Niu Hongguang, deputy commander-in-chief of China's manned space program. The two spaceships would help China establish breakthroughs and furt ...