-President Xi congratulates success of Space Station Core Module launch
HAIKOU: China on Thursday sent into space the core module of its space station, starting a series of key launch missions that aim to complete the construction of the station by the end of 2022.
The core module, named Tianhe, was carried into space by a Long March-5B Y2 carrier rocket launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the northeastern coast of south China’s Hainan Province.
The rocket blasted off at 11:23 a.m. (Beijing time). The Tianhe core module separated off the carrier rocket 494 seconds later and entered its planned orbit. At 12:36 a.m., its two solar array wings started functioning after smoothly unfolding, signifying a complete success of the launch.
Tianhe will act as the foundational module for China’s first low-Earth orbital space station named Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace” in Chinese.
Following the successful launch of Space Station Core Model launch, President Xi Jinping expressed his congratulations to the nation and those who make it possible.
On behalf of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission (CMC), Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CMC, extended warm congratulations and sincere greetings in a message to all who have participated in the mission.
Xi said in the message that the successful launch of the core module Tianhe marks that China’s space station construction has entered the full implementation stage, which lays a solid foundation for follow-up tasks.
He noted that building a space station and national space laboratory is an important goal of the three-step strategy of China’s manned space program, and an important leading project to boost the country’s strength in science and technology, as well as in space. In the message, Xi said he hopes all members of the mission, through self-reliance and innovation, will be completely successful in their space station construction mission and make new and greater contributions to building a modern socialist country in an all-around way. Premier Li Keqiang and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee Wang Huning, both also members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, watched the launch at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.
–The Daily Mail-CGTN
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