China successfully launched the main module of its first permanent space station from the southernmost province of Hainan on Thursday, as it hopes to host its own astronauts for long-term periods in space.

The module, named Tianhe, was sent to orbit the earth at 11:22 a.m. by the Long March 5B rocket from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the island of Hainan. Reportedly more than five stories high, the volume of Tianhe is believed to be larger than any single module of the International Space Station.

Despite measuring 59 feet long (18 meters), critics argued that Tianhe could only host three astronauts in the future, fewer than the International Space Station, which can host up to seven astronauts.

Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, read a congratulatory message from President Xi Jinping in Hainan that lauded the success of the launch mission, remarking that the construction of the Chinese space station had entered the stage of full implementation.

The launch would lay a solid foundation for subsequent missions, Xi added in the message.

The space program was a source of “huge national pride,” said Premier Li Keqiang, who watched the launch of Tianhe at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center alongside other top officials and military leaders.

According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, Beijing has planned 11 missions before the end of 2022, including launching three space station modules, four cargo spacecraft and four missions with crew. With three astronauts coming aboard in June, China expected the space station to be completed in 2022.

Tianhe will have a docking port to connect to other Chinese space satellites. Designed to operate for at least a decade, the T-shaped Chinese Space Station is expected to weigh about 66 tons when completed, considerably lighter than the International Space Station, which weighs about 450 tons.

China’s space program, which began as early as 2011, has recently achieved some success, including bringing back the first new lunar samples in more than four decades. It is expected to land a probe and rover on the surface of Mars in the coming months.

Beijing has already said it wants to land people on the moon and possibly build a scientific base there, although no timetable has been proposed yet.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play