China to build space station accommodating 3 astronauts

China is scheduled to build and operate a space station in 2022, which will accommodate three astronauts, and space would be reserved for enlargement. Zhou Jianping, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the chief designer of China's manned space program, said at the Forth China Summit Forum on Human Factors Engineering that the station, which will orbit 340 to 450 kilometers above Earth's surface, could be enlarged to 180 tons if necessary and will accommodate three to six astronauts, Xinhua News Agency reported Sunday. More

(Source: ecns - Nov 18)