China is planning to launch its second laboratory during the third quarter of 2016 as a part of its strategy to create a manned space station in 2022.
The new lab, called Tiangong-2, will link up with supply ship Tianzhou-1, which is set to launch next year, as well as a third component, a core module. The first space laboratory, Tiangong-1, launched in 2011.
The recent announcement furthers Beijing's rapid advancement towards its objective, and this trend will continue when it launches two astronauts into space along with the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft later this year, just one of the 20 space launches that China has planned for this year.
"The mission's crew members carry a space dream of the Chinese nation, and represent the lofty aspirations of the Chinese people to explore space," Chinese President Xi Jinping said in 2013.
While the creation of the space station is undoubtedly exciting, perhaps the most interesting of China's space plans is the China National Space Administration's (CNSA's) goal to land a robot on the far side of the moon by 2018, something that has never been accomplished by any space program in the world.
Furthermore, in order to keep space exploration thriving, China's State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense opened up its space program to the private sector last year, increasing the ability to create space technologies and minimizing the costs to do so.
"Most of our space equipment is developed and produced by State-owned institutes in accordance with missions set by the government," said Wang Pengji, a senior space scientist at the China Academy of Space Technology. "Opening the industry to the private sector will introduce competition and new ideas."
China's space exploration efforts were likened by Jinping to a "space dream" and connected to the "China Dream," which is his signature slogan that calls for the "Great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," claiming that "Chinese people will take bigger strides to explore further into space."
The notion has spread throughout the public and media in China, connecting the planned feats to sources of national pride.
"The space dream, a source of national pride and inspiration for further development, is part of the dream to make China stronger and will surely help realize the broader Chinese dream of national rejuvenation," a local media outlet said.
