Following the recent test of an anti-satellite weapon, the PLA Deputy Chief of General Staff has delivered a message to the world via the China Daily: China is not involved in an arms race and is not a threat to anyone.
China set two more ambitious goals for its space program this week, announcing it will launch an unmanned lunar orbiter in the second half of 2007 and a probe to Mars by 2009, according to reports from the Xinhua news agency.
The lunar orbiter, scheduled to launch later this year, will take 3-D images of the moon's surface. If successful, it will pave the way for a lunar landing mission, Xinhua quoted National Space Administration director Sun Laiyan as saying Sunday in a speech at Beijing Jiaotong University.
BEIJING (AFP) - Asia's space race heated up on Wednesday as China launched its first lunar orbiter, an event hailed by the world's most populous nation as a milestone event in its global rise.
China's year-long expedition, costing 1.4 billion yuan (184 million dollars), kicks off a programme that aims to land an unmanned rover on the moon's surface by 2012 and put a man on the moon by about 2020.
US Marine Corps General James Cartwright says the Chinese made two unsuccessful attempts at an anti-satellite intercept before the successful test in January.
The Xinhua website says this article by the Los Angeles Times sensationalises the anti-satellite test that China carried out in January 2007. I am not sure why - the article is quite moderate in tone and even reminds people that Taiwan is a rogue province.
When China blew their aging satellite out of the sky last year, the US bellowed about their displeasure. Now, barely a year later, the US has done the same thing - Lost Laowai's Steven tackles the hypocrisy of it all.
The US National Security Council has confirmed that China recently destroyed one of its own weather satellites with a ballistic missile. This is worrying news for the US because it cannot defend a missile attack on an individual satellite.
After all the ballyhoo and hype of the Olympics comes the only race of any real significance this year: it’s time for Americans to choose the next guy they want to entrust with the launch codes.
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