China vs US Rivalry Enters Space: Missions To The Moon

Beijing: 

China will be sending a three-person crew to its space station, which is nearing completion, and also announced today plans for a manned mission to the Moon amid intensifying competition with the US.

The Shenzhou-15 crewed spaceship will be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China on Tuesday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced.

The spaceship will take three astronauts — Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu — to carry out the spaceflight mission.

Mr Fei will be the commander of the mission, Ji Qiming, assistant to the director of the CMSA, told the media.

The crew will stay in orbit for about six months, a period in which the construction of the low-orbit space station is expected to be completed.

The launch will be carried out with a Long March-2F carrier rocket, which will be filled with propellant soon, Ji said.

After entering the orbit, the Shenzhou-15 spaceship will make a fast, automated rendezvous and dock with the front port of the space station’s core module called Tianhe, Ji said.

During their stay in orbit, the Shenzhou-15 crew will witness the arrival of the Tianzhou-6 cargo craft and Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship.

China is launching a host of rockets amid concerns over their falling debris, which is scattered around the world.

The Shenzhou-15 astronauts will return in May next year, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

This is the third manned mission to be launched by China to link up with its space station.

Two batches comprising three astronauts were flown to the space station, on a six months mission each to build the orbiting station.

While one set of astronauts returned, another set of three astronauts is currently based in Tianhe.

According to an earlier announcement by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC) the low-orbit space station construction was expected to be completed this year.