"I think about 10 to 15
years later, we will have the ability to build our own space station and to
carry out a manned moon landing,'' Hu Shixiang, deputy commander in chief of
China's manned space flight program, said in Hong Kong.
But the goal is subject to
full funding, Hu said, explaining that China's space program
must fit in the larger scheme of the country's overall development.
He said China wants to
master the technology for a space walk and docking in space by 2012.
China is developing its space
program at its own pace, not competing with the U.S., Hu said.
"It's not the competition
of the Cold War era,'' he said.
Hu is visiting Hong Kong
following China's second
successful manned space mission, together with the mission's two astronauts,
Nie Haisheng and Fei Junlong. He made his comments in a televised
question-and-answer session with news executives.
The two astronauts orbited
Earth for five days last month aboard the Shenzhou 6 capsule, traveling 3.2
million kilometers (2 million miles). China's first
manned mission was in 2003, when astronaut Yang Liwei orbited for 21 1/2
hours.
Hu stressed that China
intends to explore space for peaceful purposes, saying Beijing "is willing to
work hard with people around the world for the peaceful use of space.''
Chinese space officials
want to study the possibility of making rockets with 25 tons capacity _ three
times the capacity of exiting rockets _ but the government hasn't approved the
funding, he said.
Hu dismissed suggestions
that the space program is too costly in a country that while growing rapidly,
is still struggling to eradicate poverty in the countryside.
The recent space mission
cost 900 million Chinese yuan (US$111 million; euro95 million), compared to the
190 billion yuan (US$23.5 billion; euro20.1 billion) China spent on combating
pollution last year, he said.
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