Aerospace expert calls for unified management of space program
8/3/2006 17:10
China should set up a governmental agency as a leading body of the nation's
space program, a former chief designer of spacecraft said during the annual
session of the country's top political advisory body. China needs a unified
leading organ to plan the country's program of manned space mission, satellites
and lunar exploration as a whole, said Qi Faren, chief designer of China's first
five Shenzhou spaceships and a National Committee member of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The annual session of the top
advisory body opened in Beijing last Friday. In another development, Huang
Chunping, commander-in-cheif of the launch vehicle system of the country's
manned space mission, said China still lags 15 years behind the United States
and Russia in space program, but can catch up in 10 years with enough funding
from the government. Huang, also a member of the CPPCC National Committee,
said that without consideration of the country's overall economic development,
he believes China can narrow the gap in four or five years. "But our country
has too many sectors thirsty for financial input, such as the development of
rural areas. We have to wait," Huang said. China conducted its first manned
space mission in 2003, when the Shenzhou-5 spaceship carried one astronaut into
space. Last October, Shenzhou-6 with two astronauts on board completed its
five-day space journey. The third manned space mission is scheduled for 2008.
Xinhua news
|