Move over Nasa: China launches Tiangong 2 space lab to prepare for a space station in 2020

    Tiangong 2 lifted off on a Long March rocket at 15:00 GMT (10ET)yesterday
    The Shenzhou 11 spaceship will launch next month, carrying 2 astronauts
    They will dock with the trial space station and remain on board for a month
    China intends to send a rover to Mars and a manned mission to the moon[CN]

天宫2号，昨天北京时间15点（东部时间10点）搭载长征火箭发射。神州11号宇宙飞船将于下周发射，搭载两名宇航员。他们将和试验空间站对接，在甲板上生活一个月。中国打算发射漫游者到火星上，以及月球载人飞行任务。

China has launched its second experimental space station. The successful launch is a sign of the growing sophistication of the country's military-backed space program, that intends to send a mission to Mars in the coming years[CN]

中国发射了它的第二次实验性空间站。这次成功发射意味着该国军方支持的太空项目日益娴熟，在下一年意在进行火星计划。

Administrators suggest a manned landing on the moon may also be in the program's future. China could start building its space station starting as early as next year, Xinhua quoted Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of the manned spaceflight programme, as saying[CN]

行政官员表示人工登陆月球也在将来项目之列。中国最早可在下一年开始建立自己的太空站。新华社引用ZHOU Jianping（载人宇宙飞船项目总工程师）的话说道。

Tiangong 2, lifted off on a Long March rocket just after 10 PM local time (1400 GMT) yesterday from the remote launch site in Jiuquan, in the Gobi desert. The Shenzhou 11 spacecraft, which will carry two astronauts and dock with Tiangong 2, will be launched some time next month[CN]

昨天天宫2号在当地时间下午10点（格林尼治时间14：00）过后搭载长征火箭起飞。发射地点为戈壁沙漠的边远发射点 – 酒泉。神州11号飞船，携带2名宇航员，会和天宫2号对接，下个月某个时段将会发射。

China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, becoming only the third country after Russia and the US to do so, and has since staged a spacewalk and landed its Yutu rover on the moon[CN]

中国2003年执行了自己的第一艘载人飞行任务，成为继俄罗斯和美国之后第三个国家。中国至此步入太空行列，玉兔漫游者也登陆月球。

China will launch a 'core module' for the station some time around 2018, a senior official said in April, part of a plan for a permanent manned space station in service around 2022[CN]

中国将在2018年某个时段发射一个太空站的核心模块，一名高级官员4月份说道，也是2022年左右建立永久性太空服务站的一部分。

China insists its space programme is for peaceful purposes, but the US Defense Department has highlighted its increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed to prevent adversaries from using space-based assets in a crisis[CN]

中国坚称自己的太空项目是出于和平的目的，但是美国国防部高度强调了中国与日俱增的太空技术，声称中国是在从事活动，旨在阻止敌国在危机中使用天基资产。

China is also developing the Long March 5 heavier-lift rocket needed to launch other components of the Tiangong 2[CN]

中国也在研发长征5号更大承载量的火箭，用来发射天宫2号的其他部件。

China has launched its second experimental space station.[CN]

中国已经发射了它的第二次试验空间站。

The successful launch is a sign of the growing sophistication of the country's military-backed space program, that intends to send a mission to Mars in the coming years.

The Tiangong 2 was carried into space on Thursday night on a Long March 7 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northern China.

Plans call for the launch next month of the Shenzhou 11 spaceship with two astronauts to dock with the station and remain on board for a month.

The station, whose name means 'Heavenly Palace,' is considered a stepping stone to a mission to Mars by the end of the decade.

China's first space station, Tiangong 1, was launched in September 2011 and officially went out of service earlier this year, after having docked with three visiting spacecraft.

China insists its space programme is for peaceful purposes, but the US Defense Department has highlighted its increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed to prevent adversaries from using space-based assets in a crisis.

In a manned space mission in 2013, three Chinese astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with the Tiangong 1. 

Its successor, Tiangong 2, lifted off on a Long March rocket just after 10 PM local time (1400 GMT) yesterday from the remote launch site in Jiuquan, in the Gobi desert.

The Shenzhou 11 spacecraft, which will carry two astronauts and dock with Tiangong 2, will be launched some time next month.

The astronauts expect to remain in Tiangong 2 for about a month, testing systems and processes for mid-term stays in space and refuelling, and conduct medical and other experiments.

China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, becoming only the third country after Russia and the US to do so, and has since staged a spacewalk and landed its Yutu rover on the moon.

Administrators suggest a manned landing on the moon may also be in the program's future.

China could start building its space station starting as early as next year, Xinhua quoted Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of the manned spaceflight programme, as saying.  

'Once the lab mission comes to an end, China will start building our own space station,' Zhou was quoted as saying.

The station would be more economically efficient than the International Space Station and use 'more data', he said.

China will launch a 'core module' for the station some time around 2018, a senior official said in April, part of a plan for a permanent manned space station in service around 2022.

China was prevented from participating in the International Space Station, mainly due to US concerns over the security risks of involving the increasingly assertive Chinese military in the multinational effort.

A source of enormous national pride, China's space program plans a total of 20 missions this year at a time when the US and other countries' programs are seeking new roles.

China is also developing the Long March 5 heavier-lift rocket needed to launch other components of the Tiangong 2 and other massive payloads.

The country plans to land a rover on Mars by 2020, attempting to recreate the success of the US Viking 1 mission that landed a rover on the planet four decades ago.

China has been working to develop its space programme for military, commercial and scientific purposes, but is still playing catch-up to established space powers the US and Russia.

China's Jade Rabbit moon rover landed on the moon in late 2013 to great national fanfare, but soon suffered severe technical difficulties.