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Project 921-2

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Chinese Station
Chinese space station - model at the Chinese Pavilion, Hannover Expo 2000.The model indicates a modest station consisting of 2.2 m diameter modules, stretched versions of the orbital module of the Shenzhou.
Credit: � Mark Wade

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Status: Study 2007. Gross mass: 8,000 kg (17,600 lb). Height: 9.00 m (29.50 ft). Diameter: 2.25 m (7.38 ft). Span: 17.00 m (55.00 ft).

As of 2007 it was announced that Shenzhou 8 and 9 would be of this configuration, equipped with two docking ports. and launched in 2010. They would then be followed by the manned Shenzhou 10, which would presumably operate the station for a brief period. Then there would be another multi-year delay, with another small man-tended space station being launched in 2012. The station would probably consist of versions of the Shenzhou service and orbital modules modified for the specific mission. The 20-metric ton space laboratory seems to have been delayed to 2015 or beyond.

China began preliminary work on advanced manned spaceflight in July 1985. The decision came against a background of vigorous international space activity. The United States had its Strategic Defense Initiative and Space Station Freedom. The Soviet Union had its Buran shuttle system, Mir and Mir-2 space stations, and its own star wars program. Europe was developing the Hermes manned spaceplane, and Japan the Hope winged spacecraft. Even India and China were taking on ambitious space projects. It seemed China would have to take action to remain a world power.

Ren Xin Min, the leading Chinese rocketry expert of the time, believed that China should make a space station its national goal. This would develop all aspects of space technology, including modern launch vehicle capabilities. In early spring 1986, members of a standing committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Wang Da Hang, Wang Ganchang, Yang Jiachi, Chen Fangyun) proposed a family of seven Project 863 plans to accelerate Chinese technical development. These numbered plans covered biology, astronautics, information technology, military technology, automation, energy, and materials science. Astronautics plan 863-2 included section 863-204 space transportation system, which would service the 863-205 space station. It was estimated that two years would be needed for concept studies.

Work began immediately on defining the 863-204 shuttle spacecraft. The final 863-204 Expert Commission report in July 1989 advocated building a manned capsule, with a first flight date of 2000. This would satisfy the leadership's desire for an early Chinese manned space capability, and establish the essential earthly infrastructure and spacecraft subsystems technology for more advanced systems. However in parallel development of technology for a two-stage-two-orbit horizontal takeoff and landing reusable space shuttle would be pursued, with a first flight date of 2015.

The report failed to impress the government. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping rejected both plans, saying that neither could be flying in his lifetime. The Chinese space establishment went back to the drawing board. However within three years the plan for a manned capsule would be resurrected as Project 921, which would make its first manned flight in 2003 as the Shenzhou spacecraft. On 1 August 1992 Li Peng attended the final meeting of the Project 921 board and where the following program plan was presented:

• Phase 1 would involve launch of 2 unmanned versions of the manned spacecraft, followed by the first Chinese manned spaceflight, by 2002.
• Phase 2 would run through 2007, and involve a series of flights to prove the technology, conduct rendezvous and docking operations in orbit, and operate an 8-metric ton spacelab using the basic spacecraft technology.
• Phase 3 would involve orbiting of a 20-metric ton space station in the 2010-2015 period, with crews being shuttled to it using the 8-metric ton manned spacecraft.

The final plan was approved on 21 September 1992, and Project 921 to create a Chinese manned space capability began in earnest. $ 2.3 billion was spent in 1992-2003 creating the Shenzhou manned spacecraft and the infrastructure to support it.

Authorization to proceed with the space station finally came in February 1999, with the first design review in May. This involved design of both the 8-metric ton and 20-metric ton versions of the station. A vacuum chamber with a diameter of 7 meters and a height of 12 meters had already been built to test the station.

The first model of the planned space station were shown at Expo 2000 at Hannover. This was made up of modules that appeared to be stretched versions of the orbital module of the Shenzhou spacecraft. The model showed a station consisting of:

• A node module, about 3 m long and 2.2 m in diameter, equipped with six docking ports. Attached to two of them were large rotating solar panels (following the same principle as those on the Shenzhou).
• At either end of the node, two long (8 to 10 m x 2.2 to 3.0 m) modules, each equipped with ten docking ports. Attached to these were what appeared to be an airlock or resupply module, a propulsion module, and a two-beam truss with parabolic antennae.

In February 2001 it was decided to proceed with development of a next generation of modern Chinese launch vehicles. These were to begin flying in 2008, and would be used for launch of the larger 20 metric ton station modules of up to 5 m diameter.

In June 2001 it was revealed publicly that China would implement its Project 921 space program in three phases. Wang Yongzhi, the chief manned spaceflight engineer and designer, told a conference held in Beijing that the first phase would be consist of the Shenzhou - launch of single manned spacecraft over a series of unmanned and manned flights, demonstrating flight of Chinese astronauts in near-Earth orbit and their safe return to earth. In orbit the astronauts would conduct earth observations and space experiments. In the second phase spacewalks, rendezvous and docking tests would be conducted. A space laboratory would be orbited, but only man-tended on a short-term basis and left in an automated mode between visits. The third phase would involve the launch of a larger space laboratory. This would be permanently manned and be China's first true space station.

In March 2002 it was announced that the permanent space station would have a launch mass of 20 metric tons, and be launched by the next generation rocket series. Later that year it was indicated that the launch of this 20 metric ton station would come no earlier than 2010, and possibly as much as 15 years later!

In December 2002 it was revealed that work had been underway on a robot arm for use on the station. A 20% scale model represented the fifth generation of prototypes of such arms built by Research Institute 502, the Beijing Institute of Control Engineering.

Thereafter, mention of the space station virtually disappeared from Chinese public statements. In February 2004 it was announced that the first (presumably 8 metric ton) space station would be launched only after Shenzhou 6, 7, and 8 had proven the basic spacecraft's rendezvous and docking capabilities. In 2007 the latest plan indicated that Shenzhou 8 and 9 would be launched in 2010 with the 8-tonne laboratory configuration, followed by another launch in 2012.

Crew Size: 3.

Family: Chinese Manned Spacecraft, Space station. Country: China. Agency: CAST, CASC. More at: 6803. Bibliography: 424, 425, 460.

• Development of Shenzhou manned spacecraft begins - . Nation: China. Spacecraft: Project 921-2, Shenzhou. The 921-1 manned capsule entered full scale development in 1993 and the 921-2 space station in 1999..

• Project 921-2 Go-Ahead - . Nation: China. Spacecraft Bus: Shenzhou. Spacecraft: Project 921-2.

  China initiated the second phase of the National Manned Space program - Project 921-2. Phase 2 would focus on a manned 'space lab' and related key technologies. A China Academy of Science research team, including six subgroups on specific topics, was established in February 1999 to issue a requirements document. The new Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences was also involved.