China launches core module of new space station, to be completed by end of 2022

Today in China’s southern island province of Hainan, crowds gathered to witness a major milestone in the country’s space program: the first of 11 launches to build a permanent Chinese space station.

• Today’s launch put into orbit the space station’s Tianhe (天和 tiān hé; “harmony of the heavens”) core module. In the future, it will “serve as the control center and living quarters for up to three astronauts for long-term stay or six people for short-term stay,” per Sixth Tone.
• The future space station itself is called Tiangong (天宫 tiān gōng; “heavenly palace”), but also known as the Chinese Space Station (CSS).
• The CSS is the planned successor to Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2, which were designed as prototype space laboratories. The CSS is going to be the real deal: a large, fully functional manned space station, open to the astronauts and experiments of nations and companies friendly to China.
• Somewhat unsurprisingly, after the U.S. government banned official cooperation in space with China a decade ago, the initial round of international experiments chosen for the CSS do not include any from the United States — even though some American scientists did apply.

After a “high-density, highly challenging launch cadence with complex equipment and operations” running until the end of 2022, according to space journalist Andrew Jones, the CSS is planned to be fully constructed.

• China’s permanent manned space station, the plans for which were first approved in 1992, will be a fraction of the size of the International Space Station.

More on China’s public and private space efforts:

• China, Russia open moon base project to international partners, early details emerge / SpaceNews
• Official: China’s moon probe will carry French, Russian gear / AP
• Chinese capsule returns to Earth with Moon rocks / The China Project
• China’s commercial sector finds funding and direction / SpaceNews
• China names Mars rover for traditional fire god / AP
• “China’s first Mars rover will be named Zhurong [祝融 zhùróng] after a traditional fire god, the government announced Saturday…The rover’s title fits with the Chinese name for Mars — ‘Huo Xing [火星 huǒxīng],’ or fire star, the China National Space Administration said.”