China's 1st space lab module Tiangong-1 blasts off
21:05, 29 September 2011
JIUQUAN. September 29. KAZINFORM China's first space lab module Tiangong-1 blasted off at 9:16 pm Beijing Time (1316 GMT) Thursday from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest desert area; Kazinform refers to China Daily.
The unmanned module, carried by Long March-II FT1 rocket, will test space docking with a spacecraft later this year, paving the way for China to become the third country in the world to operate a permanent space station around 2020.
The Tiangong-1 will orbit the Earth for about one month to await Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft. Once the two vehicles successfully rendezvous, they will conduct the first space docking at a height of 340 kilometers above Earth surface; Kazinform cites China Daily.
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