China successfully launches core module for its space station, kicking off intense construction phase

Photo: Su Dong

GLOBAL TIMES, April 30: China has successfully sent the first section of its own space station - the Tianhe core module cabin - into preset orbit via a Long March-5B Y2 carrier rocket from Wenchang spaceport in South China's Hainan Province on Thursday, kicking off an intense construction phase of the project.

Encased in the extra-large fairing of the country's state-of-the-art Long March-5B launch vehicle, the 16.6-meter-long, 4.2-meter-diameter Tianhe (literally meaning Harmony in Heaven) core module, rose from the tropical island province of Hainan at 11:23 am on Thursday morning. After a flight time of around one hour, the solar panels onboard the spacecraft smoothly unfolded and functioned normally, marking the mission's complete success, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA.)