China makes stride toward building manned space station: global media

Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-30 15:21:51|Editor: huaxia

-- Noting that Tianhe is China's first large component for its own space station, German national daily Die Welt reported that China is "consistently pressing ahead with its space projects and celebrating great successes."

-- Reuters reported that China has "ramped up its space programme with visits to the moon, the launch of an uncrewed probe to Mars and the construction of its own space station."

-- Australian Associate Press viewed China's launch of the core module for its space station as "the latest success for a program that has realised a number of its growing ambitions in recent years."

 

China has made an enormous stride in achieving the goal of having a manned space station independently built and operated by itself, said various global media organizations when reporting China's successful launch of the core module of its space station on Thursday.

 

The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the Tianhe module, blasted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan at 11:23 a.m. (0323 GMT).

 

Such efforts came almost three decades after China first drew up its plans, reported the German press agency dpa.

 

In the report, former German astronaut Reinhold Ewald, now a professor at the University of Stuttgart, spoke highly of China's success, saying that "in general, a space station demonstrates the breadth of space technology in a country."

The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the Tianhe module, blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, April 29, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhou Jiayi)

 

If the International Space Station (ISS) were to cease service as planned in the next few years, "China would become the only nation to operate a space station," said the report.

 

Noting that Tianhe is China's first large component for its own space station, German national daily Die Welt reported that China is "consistently pressing ahead with its space projects and celebrating great successes."

 

The Asian country is working through its space strategy point by point, said the report, adding that China has risen from apprentice to master class in the field of global space exploration with its own manned space flight.

 

As China opens its door to other countries in space technology, the United States, conversely, has never allowed a Chinese to enter the ISS, it said.

 

Reuters reported that China has "ramped up its space programme with visits to the moon, the launch of an uncrewed probe to Mars and the construction of its own space station."

 

Calling the launch of the space station module as China's first in history, Japan's Jiji Press said Thursday it means the Chinese government's ambitious plan to build a permanent manned space base has taken a major step.

 

"The Chinese government has indicated that it welcomes joint projects with foreign organizations," the report added.

 

Australian Associate Press (AAP) viewed China's launch of the core module for its space station as "the latest success for a program that has realised a number of its growing ambitions in recent years."

 

"The launch marked another major advance for the country's space exploration," AAP said.