A senior officer in charge of China's manned space program said Tuesday that after launching astronauts into outer space, the country is planning to construct a permanent space station.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, the officer said that after several test flights of unmanned spaceships, China will send its own astronauts into the space early this century.

To launch a manned space mission, Chinese space scientists need to construct and launch a space lab in near future and follow up with a space station, the officer said.

He said that "Shenzhou III", or China's third unmanned experimental craft which was launched on March 25 and returned Monday afternoon, is "technically suitable for astronauts". A set of metabolic simulation apparatus, human physical monitoring sensors and dummy astronauts have been installed aboard the spaceship.

He added that the successful launch and return of "Shenzhou III " has laid a solid foundation for the country's future efforts to send man into outer space.

China began to carry out its Manned Space Program in 1992. The program branches out in seven aspects of astronaut training, spaceship scientific application, manned spaceship construction, carrier rocket manufacturing, developing launching sites and landing sites, and monitoring and controlling headquarters.

Thousands of researchers from more than 3,000 organizations have participated in the program, the officer said.

Since the country's adoption of the ambitious plan ten years ago, the officer said, scientists and technologists have developed many key technologies in telecommunications, material and energy sciences.



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