Plans ready to expand space role

China's 1st astronaut details projects for orbital station, manned lunar visit

China will launch at least four manned missions with Shenzhou spacecraft before the end of 2022 to build a space station, according to a senior space official.

Yang Liwei, deputy head of the China Manned Space Agency and the first Chinese astronaut in space, said on the sidelines of the 2017 Global Space Exploration Conference that the nation will start building its first manned space station in 2019. The first step will be the launch of a Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket to put the station's core module into orbit, he said.