China's new prototype spacecraft "successfully landed" on Friday, marking an important step in its ambitions to run a permanent space station and send astronauts to the moon.
The
spacecraft -- which was launched Tuesday -- arrived safely at a predetermined
site, the China Manned Space Agency said, after a hitch in an earlier part of
the key test.
It said
the cabin structure of the spacecraft had been confirmed on site as being
intact.
The test
vessel was launched with a cargo capsule aboard a new type of carrier rocket
from the Wenchang launch site on the southern island of Hainan.
The
space agency said the vessel was in orbit for two days and 19 hours and had
completed a number of experiments.
The
return has verified the spacecraft's capabilities such as its heat resistance
-- vehicles re-entering Earth's atmosphere face high temperatures.
It is
hoped the spaceship will one day transport astronauts to a space station that China
plans to complete by 2022 -- and eventually to the Moon.
The new
prototype expands the number of crew that can be sent into space to six from
three in an earlier model.
Friday's
safe landing follows a snag in an earlier part of the test when an unspecified
"anomaly" occurred during the return of the cargo capsule, which was
designed to transport equipment.
The
completion of the experiment had involved the maiden flight of the Long March
5B rocket, and came after two previous failures -- the Long March 7A
malfunctioned in March, while the Long March 3B failed to take off in early
April.
-
Catching up -
Observers
said the successful mission marks a milestone for China.
Andrew
Jones, who reports on China's space activities for the SpaceNews website, said
the country can "move ahead with its space station plans, and the first
module may now launch in early 2021."
"The
successful landing of the new spacecraft from a high orbit also shows China is
serious about sending astronauts beyond low Earth orbit -- something only NASA
has achieved -- and eventually sending its astronauts to the Moon," he
added.
Chen
Lan, an independent analyst at GoTaikonauts.com, which specialises in China's
space programme, added: "We can say that China has now similar manned space
capability of the US and Russia."
Beijing
has invested heavily in its space programme in recent years as it plays
catch-up to the United States, which is the only country to have sent a man to
the Moon.
Assembly
of the Chinese Tiangong space station, whose name means "Heavenly
Palace", is expected to begin this year and finish in 2022.
China
became the first nation to land on the far side of the Moon in January 2019,
deploying a lunar rover that has driven about 450 metres (1,500 feet) so far.
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