China will launch its second space station into orbit sometime in September, 2016, significantly accelerating the new space race with America.
China’s new space station, dubbed Tiangong-2, will host three crew members for up to 20 days. Once in orbit, it will be visited by manned mission Shenzhou 11, October, 2016.
Tiangong-2 will be quite small in comparison with the first Soviet and U.S. space stations. Chinese modules are 8.5 metric tons, while the 1971 Soviet station Salyut 1 was 18.6 metric tons and the 1973-launched American Skylab was 77 metric tons. The International Space Station (ISS) now in orbit is approximately 400 metric tons by comparison and 356 feet long. China’s station will be 47 feet long. – READ MORE
