UNDAUNTED by NASA鈥檚 cool response to its interest in the International Space Station, China is going it alone. It has announced plans to build its very own crewed space laboratory by 2020.
The news comes hot on the heels of a visit to China by NASA administrator Charlie Bolden that failed to produce any plans for cooperation with the US in space.
Some US lawmakers, including congressmen Frank Wolf and John Culberson, . Such critics question the intent of its space programme, which appears to be run by the military, and note the dual-use nature of much space technology.
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China, meanwhile, has been expanding its space capabilities, and, on 27 October, officially launched a project to develop a space station by 2020. The station will have research applications, including studying living conditions for astronauts, .
China鈥檚 steady investments in human space flight 鈥渕ake it very clear they are going to be in space in terms of a human presence and are going to be there for a long time鈥�, says , an analyst at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC.
