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AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
BEIJING (AFP) May 18, 2004
China will launch its own permanent manned space station within 15 years, but does not plan to send a man to the moon, the chief designer of the country's space program was cited as saying Tuesday.
Wang Yongzhi also revealed that China's manned space program has guzzled 18 billion yuan (2.18 billion dollars) over the past 11 years.
Under the program, China will construct a permanent manned space station, expected to take 15 years, the Beijing News reported him as telling some 100 high school students from Beijing, Hong Kong and Macau.
But due to financial reasons, China's lunar probe will not send an astronaut to the moon, Wang said.
This is in contrast to previous statements from Chinese officials suggesting the country was hoping to land an astronaut on the moon at some point within the coming decades.
No further details were provided but China gained invaluable expertise and experience from the country's first manned space flight, when astronaut Yang Liwei orbited the Earth 14 times in October last year.
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