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.

FMI: www.cnsa.gov.cn/n615709/cindex.html