BEIJING, June 28 (UPI) -- China will go forward with development and construction of space labs and plans to launch its second, Tiangong-2, in 2015, an aerospace official said.
The plans are in line with China's overall outline for the country's manned space program, Wang Zhaoyao, director of China's manned space program office, said.
He made the remarks at a news conference after the return of the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft from a 15-day mission to Tiangong 1, China's first orbiting space station, launched in 2011, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.
Work on small, orbiting space labs will lead to construction and launch of a full manned space station, with the first core module put into orbit sometime in 2018 and completion expected in 2020, Wang said.
China will launch a series of cargo and manned spacecraft to deliver material supplies and transport astronauts to the present and future space labs, and eventually to the space station, Wang said.
