China's first test launch of an unmanned capsule is set for October to honor the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Reports indicate China hopes to build a full space program, including an orbiting space station and a space shuttle-type craft, and to dispatch a robot moon probe. They're doing this primarily for status. China had hoped to put a two-man crew into space by October, but technical problems with the booster rocket has delayed the launch up to 12 months, says Phillip Clark, a British space consultant and expert on the Chinese program. Photos of the pad and an unmanned rocket, reportedly taken by a contract worker, surfaced several months ago on the Internet.
Experts believe the photos are legitimate.
2F, large enough to put a manned spacecraft into orbit. For the first time, China plans to deploy three tracking ships in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans to relay data to China from the Project 921 spacecraft. The project is based largely on technology China has purchased from Russia, aerospace experts believe. No Chinese citizens have ever been launched into orbit.