China Unveils Five-Year Space Plan

China on Thursday issued the white paper on the major tasks for the next five years and the development of the space industry since 2006, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Major tasks listed in the white paper for the next five years include a space transportation system, Earth satellites, human spaceflights and deep-space exploration. The country will launch Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 and achieve unmanned or manned rendezvous and docking with the currently orbiting Tiangong-1 vehicle, the paper said.

Zhang Wei, spokesman for the China National Space Administration China told a press conference on Thursday that the nation will also conduct special project demonstrations in other deep-space projects, including an exploration of Mars.

China has signed 66 international space cooperation agreements with 22 states and regions, and 44 of them currently remain in effect, Zhang said at the press conference. The country has engaged in 12 bilateral cooperative mechanisms within intergovernmental frameworks, Zhang said, adding that China has exported communications satellites to Nigeria, Venezuela and Pakistan.

Zhang also said China always adheres to the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, and opposes the weaponization of, or an arms race in, outer space.

Moreover, Zhang said that Chinese scientists are keeping in close contact with their Russian peers on the situation of the Yinghuo-1 Mars orbiter.

In 2008, China successfully launched a manned spacecraft and became the third country in the world to master the key technology of astronaut space extravehicular activity.

The Chinese government has made the space industry an important part of the nation’s overall development strategy and adhered to the exploration and utilization of outer space for peaceful purposes, the white paper said.