Public urged to name China's first space station

International Business Times: Public urged to name China's first space station

The public is asked to join in the naming of China's first space station set for launch in year 2020.

Chinese scientists and space engineers will start building a 60,000-kilogram space station and cargo spaceship intended for launch in year 2020, authorities said at the launch of the very first manned space programme of China.

Chinese government authorities has announced in a press conference that China Manned Space Engineering Office is now tasked to build a a space station made up of three capsules and a cargo ship for transporting supplies.

In project documents provided the media, the said space station is composed of a core module and two others where experiments will be conducted.

A cargo spaceship to transport supplies will also be developed.

The 18.1m-long core module, with a maximum diameter of 4.2m and a launch weight of 20,000 to 22,000kg, will be launched first.

The two experiment modules will then blast off to dock with the core module. Each laboratory module is 14.4m long, with the same maximum diameter and launch weight of the core module.

The public has also been engaged to provide a name for the said space station.