Tue, Jun 12, 2007
Aims For Orbital Cooperation
In an attempt to allay concerns over China's rapidly developing
aerospace programs, on Monday state media quoted the country's
first taikonaut as saying China is drafting laws governing the
peaceful use of the cosmos.
Yang Liwei, who flew into space in 2003
aboard the Shenzhou 5 space capsule (shown above), told
university students at a weekend conference the laws would address
ways to "effectively protect the space environment, reduce or
eradicate fragments in space and expand international
cooperation."
The comments were reported by China News Service, according to
Reuters. Liwei didn't provide details of the proposed laws,
and it's doubtful his comments will notably ease concerns of a
looming space arms race between China, the US and other powers.
As ANN reported in January,
the emerging superpower shocked many when it launched a
ground-based ballistic missile to blow apart an aging Feng Yun 1C
polar orbit weather satellite. The medium-range ballistic missile
was launched near China's Xichang Space Center, and was the first
such 'satellite killer' test in more than 20 years.
The Chinese government acknowledged the test two weeks after it
took place.
China is only the third nation to send humans into orbit, after
Russia and the US. It followed Liwei's 2003 mission with a two-man,
four-day orbital flight in October 2005. The country is said to be
working on, among other projects, a manned orbiting station and
several missions (manned and unmanned) to the moon.
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