Space program can push China to new heights

• Source: Global Times
• [21:58 March 16 2010]
• Comments

Zhang Jianqi

Editor's Note:

After the US and Russia, China is the third country to send human beings into outer space. China is looking to advance its space program, both as a symbol of national strength and unity and in order to develop technological and scientific research. Global Times(GT) reporter Peng Kuang and special correspondent He Yan, interviewed Lieutenant General Zhang Jianqi (Zhang), deputy chief of General Armament Department of PLA and director of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, on the latest developments in China's space program.

GT: After the launch of Shenzhou VII and the successful space walk, what is China's next step in the space program?

Zhang: In 1992, three main objectives were listed for China's space program.

First, sending people into outer space. This was achieved with the Shenzhou V and Shenzhou VI missions. Secondly, our astronauts need to be free to go outside the spaceships. In this step, there are two key components: technologies for space walk, and technologies for space docking.

Shenzhou VII carried out a spacewalk. For Shenzhou VII, IX, and X, docking will be the main objective. Finally, China plans to build a space station to provide the country with a long-term scientific research base.

GT: When will the next mission be launched?

Zhang: We're aiming for the first half of 2011. Compared to previous missions that only lasted several days, the next goal is to keep the vehicle in space for up to two years. We still need to do a lot of preparations to meet new require-ments.

GT: China is still a developing country. How should we balance between developing the economy and the needs of the space program?

Zhang: The space program has always had very clear and practical targets, so we haven't been affected by the financial crisis. On the other hand, we have tried our best to make the projects multipurpose. Orbital modules, for instance, are usually abandoned after use, but we converted them into satellites. These kind of intensive designs maximize our investment.

GT: What kind of return can we get on the program?

Zhang: As an industry, the return on investment of the space program is pretty good. In other countries, the ratios are around 1 to 8, or 9. In China, this ratio is even higher. Many discoveries made during space programs have become part of our daily life.

A lot of experiments cannot be done on the ground. They need a zero gravity environment. For instance, pure crystal can only be approached in a weightless environment, and this approach is useful for bioscience and materials research.

Beside the economic returns, the program is also important for national unity. The US and the USSR fiercely competed in space over who would be the first into space, who would be the first on the moon, and so on. The space race was used to unite society. The return on national unity is immeasurable.