China is planning to develop and launch an unmanned lunar rover as a first step towards its long-term goal of landing men on the moon. "Lunar exploration is regarded as a symbol of the country's space technology development," said Luan Enjie, director of the State Aerospace Bureau, at a Beijing symposium.
China also plans to uprate its current launchers and aims to develop a re-usable launch vehicle (RLV) as part of its expanding space capability. Long March boosters will be improved to increase low Earth orbit lifting capability to 20t and geostationary transfer orbit capability to 14t, according to Long Lehao, chief designer.
Long confirms that further unmanned test missions of the Shen Zhou manned spacecraft will be made before two taikonauts fly into orbit.
Zhou Zhicheng, of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology, says that China "lags far behind Western countries" and needs to reform design and management philosophies, and encourage foreign involvement.
Source: Flight International
