China will launch larger spacecraft

After the success of the Shenzhou 9 ship, space experts say China will deploy a larger spacecraft to serve a longer-term mission on space.

>>>China is about to launch unmanned spacecraft

According to AFP on July 1, the goal of these missions is to build a space station with people residing in China and possibly bring people to the Moon.

On June 29, the Shenzhou 9 ship safely returned to Earth after 13 days in space. This is the longest period of time in the universe that a Chinese shuttle takes.

The astronauts of Than Chau 9 also successfully carried out the connection with Thien Cung 1 Modune via manual control, very complicated technique that Russia and the United States currently have.

Shenzhou 9 ship on the universe

Morris Jones, an Australian space expert specializing in Chinese space program research, said the next step, Beijing will launch Shenzhou 10, possibly later this year or early 2013. The ship astronauts Than Chau 10 will also connect the train with Thien Cung 1 module.

This will be the last connection of a space shuttle with this module. Then within a few years, China will launch a more equipped Thien Cung 2 module than Thien Cung 1.

At that time, the scale of China's space program will increase significantly, according to Isabelle Sourbes-Verger - an expert on the Chinese space program at the French National Center for Scientific Research.

She said future spacecraft would allow China to create larger space modules, longer-lasting missions, perhaps 1-3 months.

China is expected to build its own manned space station by 2020.