Dragon Models 1/400 CZ-2F-T1 Rocket (Chang Zheng2F) TianGong-1
China is one of the newest entrants in the space race, with ambitious plans to establish a space station by 2020 and to be the third country to put man on the Moon by 2025. The manned orbital carrier rocket that China is currently relying upon for its space program is the Long March family. Indeed, one of these members, the Long March 2F (or CZ-2F), was the first rocket to put a Chinese taikonaut in space. The CZ-2F is a man-rated two-stage design, and it’s a development of the Long March 2E with structural modifications to allow carriage of heavier Shenzhou capsules (its maximum payload is 8,400kg). It also has more redundant systems to enhance safety. More recently, a CZ-2F rocket launched the Tiangong 1 (the name translates as “heavenly palace”) space laboratory module into low earth orbit on 29 September 2011. CZ-2F-T1 blasted off from the South Launch Site of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. Later, an unmanned Shenzhou spacecraft twice rendezvoused and docked with Tiangong 1 in early November, an important step in China’s aim to establish a fully functioning space station. This space lab will deorbit in 2013, to be replaced by newer modules. Dragon Space Collection allows modelers to celebrate this historic milestone in China’s technological march through a brand new 1/400 scale model of the rocket system. This rocket represents Chinese technological prowess and the nation’s space aspirations, and the CZ-2F-T1, which is a completely new tooling, does the subject justice. Dragon has released many notable 1/400 scale models of systems such as the Atlas, Titan, Delta, H-IIA and Ariane, and now the Chinese type is proudly represented too. By acquiring this Chinese CZ-2F-T1, collectors will be able to field a very international range of space rockets.