A leading Chinese space official confirmed that the country would go ahead with its first-ever manned space flight this year, despite the recent loss of the US shuttle Columbia, state press reported on Friday.
Zhang Qingwei, president of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASTC), told the China Daily that all systems are go.
”China put into place its space programme long ago, and it will stick to its schedule without being distracted,” he told the paper. While he did not specify a timetable the state-run paper said the flight would blast off this year.
CASTC officials in January said that the launch would occur ”around October.”
It is the first time since the Columbia tragedy on February 1 that a leading Chinese space authority has explicitly promised to forge ahead with the plan of sending astronauts into orbit.
”Technically, there is no direct link between China’s manned space programme and US missions, and China has developed an effective quality control system in rocket and spacecraft manufacturing, launching and scientific research,” Zhang said.
China has so far launched four unmanned spaceflights, the last of which, Shenzhou IV, successfully returned to earth on January 5 after a 162-hour mission.
With a successful manned space flight, China will become only the third country to send a human into orbit following the former Soviet Union and the United States. – Sapa-AFP