China announces sending 12 astronauts to space by 2023 and opening of new permanent station by 2022

News Desk

The space agency of China has announced the lofty goal of executing 11 launch missions and sending a 12 astronauts to space within the next two years.

The news has been announced by the China’s first astronaut and now a member of the National Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Yang Liwei. He explained that the tightly packed spaceflight schedule was to facilitate the speedy construction of a new Chinese orbital station.

The China’s first astronaut further stated that the upcoming missions are set to include the launch of the space station’s main module into orbit. Beijing is aiming to unveil its new permanent space station in 2022.

He also encouraged the youth to join the China’s rapidly expanding space program which completed its third recruitment campaign of astronauts last October, inducting a total of 17 men and one woman into the country’s astronaut training program.

According to Russia Today, this latest recruitment drive was open to civilians, unlike the previous two, in the early 1990s and in 2010, in which only military personnel were considered.

It is pertinent to mention here that Beijing has made major inroads into space exploration and development in recent years, including its recent Tianwen-1 mission which took up orbit around Mars and recently began beaming back images and video.