China launches its new space station's central module.

The station's module, known as Tianhe (Harmony of the Heavens), marks the next major step in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) human spaceflight program.

The station's module, called Tianhe (Harmony of the Heavens), marks the next big step in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) manned flight program. Barred from participating in the International Space Station (ISS) by US law, which forbids cooperation in space between the two countries, China has developed its own LEO capabilities for over a decade now.

She started her first astronauts (called taikonauts) in 2003 and 2005 as part of the Shenzhou program, with a vehicle based on the Russian Soyuz design. A technology-sharing agreement with Russia also enabled China to launch its first space station in 2011: a small mono module space base called Tianjin-1. A similar platform, Tiangong-2, continued in 2016. The two have since broken up.

Tianhe is a major update compared to these small predecessors. The basic module houses the life support of three taikonauts, together with the power and propulsion systems. A series of docking ports will enable crewed spacecraft to visit the station and make room for future modules (two other large laboratory sections, named Mengtian and Wentian, are planned). When completed, the modular station will weigh approximately sixty-six tonnes – smaller than the ISS, but much more efficient than the prototypes of Tiangong stations. Tianhe also includes an extravehicular activity (EVA) and hatch, allowing taikonauts to perform spacewalks.

Tianhe is currently orbiting at an altitude of approximately 360 kilometers at its lowest, and 400 kilometers at its highest, though further orbit-raising maneuvers will likely occur in the coming days to bring the station to its operational position. Like the ISS, it will take regular boosts to prevent atmospheric drag from bringing the station back to Earth.

Despite political barriers to cooperation with the United States, other countries are eager to work with the Chinese space program on the station. Several European experiments are already planned to fly in the coming years, and back in 2019, nine experiments from seventeen countries were selected to fly on the station under the auspices of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).

In June, the first taikonauts will arrive in Tianhe to start construction and operations for a three-month stay in orbit. Three additional construction missions are planned by 2022, followed by longer-duration science missions. The life of the plant is expected to be at least 10 years.

Tianhe's launch site, located in Wenchang on Hainan Island, is one of China's newest spaceports. It is located closer to the equator than any other Chinese launch site, it provides access to orbital trajectories unavailable to the more northerly sites (although taikonauts visiting the station will launch from the Jiuquan launch center in the Gobi desert instead). The station’s other modules will also launch from Wenchang, which is upgraded to support the newest variants of the Long March family of rockets: those designed as heavy-lift vehicles for interplanetary missions. The first Chinese robotics mission to Mars, Tianwen-1, began in Wenchang last year.

Image credit(India T.V)