China launches the first module of its new space station

China's ambitious space program, almost in its infancy just two decades ago, has taken a gigantic new step forward.

It launched this Thursday the first module of its space station, which will work in parallel with the international space station (ISS), the result of cooperation between fifteen countries.

According to Beijing's plans, this year it will begin to host manned missions;

Its construction will be completed by the end of 2022.

The launch of the Long March-5B rocket that carries the

Tianhe

module

, or celestial harmony, occurred at 11:23 local time (05:23 Spanish peninsular time) from the Chinese space base of Wenchang, on the tropical island of Hainan, according to the agency of Xinhua state news.

Tianhe

will orbit the earth at an altitude between 340 and 450 kilometers. Measuring 16.6 meters long by 4.2 wide, it will be the control center and residence area for future manned missions to the space station.

The Chinese space station (CSS is its acronym in English, or

Tiangong

, celestial palace, as it has been called in its country) will have two other modules,

Wentian

and

Mengtian

- celestial search and celestial dream, respectively -, two laboratories that will be will install on each side of

Tianhe

.

In total, the T-shaped construction will weigh about 90 tons and will reach similar dimensions to the Russian MIR, although it will be four times smaller than the ISS.

It is designed to accommodate teams of three astronauts during prolonged stays, although up to six people may coincide inside it during relay times between crews.

Experts from the Chinese space agency (CSNA) predict that it could be operational for up to 15 years.

In total, the T-shaped construction will weigh about 90 tons and will reach dimensions similar to the Russian MIR

To complete the project, 10 more missions will be needed, four this year and six next, when the laboratory modules will be launched.

There will be four cargo missions, which will carry materials to provision and condition the CSS on board the

Tianzhou-2

and

Tianzhou-3

ships

.

The first will leave next month.

Another four - two this year, and two in 2022 - will be manned. The first of these, aboard the

Shenzhou-12 spacecraft

, will begin in June and will remain in orbit for three months. The second, in

Shenzhou-13

, six months. It is quite a logistical challenge for the Chinese space program: so far, the longest time that Chinese astronauts have spent in space has been 33 days.

China, which does not participate in the ISS due to the veto of the American NASA, which its country's laws prohibit collaborating with Beijing, plans to use its space station to test key technologies in its ambitions to explore outer space and the resistance of materials in space. Most notably, he wants to verify the operation of a new "life support system", the technology of recycling water, oxygen and other essential materials to allow survival without costly - and bulky - shipments of material from Earth. A crucial technology for the development of long-duration manned missions or the establishment of a base on the Moon, one of the great dreams of Chinese space scientists.

“In previous missions, we included the load of water and oxygen for the astronauts.

But for a stay of three to six months, the water and oxygen would fill the cargo tanks, leaving no room for other necessary materials.

So we have installed a new life support system in the central module to recycle urine, exhaled air and carbon dioxide, "said the chief designer of the CSS at the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, Bai Linhou.

According to Bai, "we will learn to assemble, operate and maintain a large spacecraft in orbit."

The goal, he added, is to have "a space laboratory that can be used for long-term stays for astronauts, as well as ambitious experiments."

China maintains that the CSS is not built to rival the ISS, in which the US, Russian, Japanese, Canadian and EU space agencies participate, and has ensured that it is open to international collaboration on its future space station.

In fact, it has already selected, in cooperation with the UN, experiments by foreign researchers to carry out at these facilities.

The chief designer of China's manned space exploration program, Zhou Jianping, told

Xinhua

: “We have to make sure that every launch is reliable and that the operation of spacecraft in orbit is carried out safely and safely.

Each mission is a test of our capacity for organization, management, technology and support ”.

Since sending its first astronaut into space in 2003, Beijing has invested billions of euros in its space program.

With it, which has already made important advances in the last two decades, China aspires to compete with the United States in yet another area within the rivalry between the two great world powers.

In 2019, the Chinese space program achieved a world milestone by reaching the far side of the Moon and beginning its exploration;

last year, its

Chang'e-5

probe

brought back soil samples.

Having sent a probe into the orbit of Mars earlier this year, in the coming weeks he plans to deposit a rover robot on the surface of the red planet.

In addition, it plans to launch other asteroid research missions;

by 2029 it wants to reach the orbit of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system.

In March, it signed a memorandum of collaboration with the Russian space agency to plan a future joint station on the Moon, which its experts hope to have operational in about 10 years.

After the launch of this Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory message, in which he calls to be "self-sufficient and innovative to win the triumph of the construction of the space station, and contribute to the construction of a modern socialist country ”.

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