China’s first space lab

China’s Long March 2F rocket carrying the country’s first space laboratory, the Tiangong-1 module, or “Heavenly Palace”, blasting off from the Jiuquan launch centre in Gansu province, yesterday. China took its first step towards building a space...

China’s Long March 2F rocket carrying the country’s first space laboratory, the Tiangong-1 module, or “Heavenly Palace”, blasting off from the Jiuquan launch centre in Gansu province, yesterday. China took its first step towards building a space station when it launched the experimental module ahead of National Day celebrations. The unmanned 8.5-tonne module will test a number of space operations as a preliminary step towards building a space station by 2020.

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