Another Giant Leap for China in Space

The Chinese space program has had the space community in a steady stream of admiration ever since they became the planet’s third space-faring nation back in 2003. And as the years have rolled on, the roll of applause has only gotten louder.

Since then China have conducted an EVA (spacewalk), and even lofted their own small Space Station, Tiangong 1. Over the past few days China have achieved another landmark – their first orbital docking procedure. So successful was this procedure that they went and did it twice. Let’s take a look at the mission profile, what they have achieved, and what’s next for China’s exciting space program.

The name of the current docking mission is Shenzhou 8. Shenzhou is China’s space capsule which has been solely responsible for lofting their Taikonauts (Chinese Astronauts) into space. Shenzhou 8 lifted off at the beginning of November atop a Chinese LongMarch 2F rocket.  This particular ship has been sent unmanned, as the focus of the mission is merely to test the physical docking mechanisms and procedures.

Chinese LongMarch Rocket

Once Shenzhou left Earth, it travelled into an Orbit which puts it about 200 miles way from the planet, the same place Tiangong 1 is located, and caught up with the Space Station’s 17,000 mph speed. Once the ship had reached the Space Station, the first docking procedure was initiated on November 3^rd. The hardware and procedures used by the Chinese have been directly derived from Russian Soyuz technology, with a few tweaks.

The first docking was an absolute success, and the ship remained docked with the station for a few days before being undocked. However, that was by no means the end of the excitement. On November 14^th, the ship was then re-docked to the Space Station for a second time in order to test the mechanisms in different lighting conditions. This was another resounding success. The ship is now scheduled to return to Earth tomorrow night, marking another giant leap for China. But what’s next?

The Chinese Space Agency has announced that they plan to send two manned missions to the Space Station next year, although an exact month for these missions has not been confirmed. One thing you can bet on is China’s aggressive strategy with human space exploration. It would not be surprising to see such a mission take off in the first quarter of next year.