Today, China is a lot closer to completing their suborbital space station plans: the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft has automatically docked with the space lab Tiangong-1. It’s the third space agency ever to achieve achieve this feat.
China has successfully launched the Tiangong-1, its first space lab. It’s the first of a series of small test stations, and the first step towards the Country’s goal of having a 54-tonne space station in orbit by 2020.
China is close to launching its own International Space Station. The Tiangong-1, “heavenly palace”, is one of several modules that will hook up to form a space station. The first 8.5-ton module will be shot into space later this year.
