Expect Launch Sometime Late 2003
China is sticking to plans for a manned space launch this year,
confident its rockets are safe, the head of the country's main
civilian space agency was quoted Friday as saying.
The comments by Zhang Qingwei, president of the China Aerospace
Science and Technology Corp., to the China Daily newspaper were the
highest-level affirmation yet of Chinese determination to go ahead
with a manned flight.
The communist government hasn't announced a launch date, but
earlier reports put it in the second half of this year.
"China put into place its space program long ago, and it will
stick to its schedule without being distracted," Zhang was quoted
as saying. He was paraphrased as saying a manned launch would take
place this year, though the report gave no details.
Out In The Open
A successful flight would make China only the third nation,
after Russia and the United States, to send a human into space on
its own.
Beijing is believed to have invested at least $1 billion in the
program, a symbol of communist-led progress. The sum is large for a
country with an annual income per person of about $700.
The military-linked program, begun in 1992, operated until
recently in almost total secrecy. But China has been emboldened by
four test launches of its Shenzhou space capsule, the latest in
January. Shenzhou is based on the Soyuz capsule, the workhorse of
Russia's space program.
Was That A Shuttle Dig?
"Technically there is no direct link between China's manned
space program and U.S. missions, and China has developed an
effective quality-control system in rocket and spacecraft
manufacturing, launching and scientific research," the China Daily
quoted Zhang as saying.
A spokesman at China Aerospace headquarters in
Beijing couldn't confirm the report and said Zhang wasn't available
to comment. The man would give only his surname, Li. However,
earlier reports from state-controlled media about the space program
have been confirmed by officials.
The report Friday noted that China's Long March booster rockets
have had 27 successful launches in the past seven years.
The chief capsule designer, Qi Faren, said the two most recent
Shenzhou flights showed the craft "met the required standards," the
China Daily said.
Chinese engineers cited by earlier reports have noted that in
contrast to the 22-year-old Columbia, Shenzhou craft are newly made
and meant only for a single flight.