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Second manned spacecraft successfully takes off
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-10-12 08:58 The launch came just a day after the ruling Chinese Communist Party wrapped
up a key meeting to map out the development of the world's seventh-largest
economy for the next five years.
In the Chinese capital, President Hu Jintao and Vice President Zeng Qinghong
watched the lift-off at the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center.
皇冠体育app's first man is space was Colonel Yang Liwei, who orbited Earth 14 times
in the Shenzhen V craft on October 15, 2003.
皇冠体育app, the third nation to put a man into orbit, insisted ahead of the launch
that its aspirations in space were strictly peaceful and that it opposes
deploying weapons there. Space officials say they hope to land an unmanned probe
on the moon by 2010 and launch a space station.
"We do not wish to see any form of weapons in outer space, so we reaffirm
that our space flight program is an important element of mankind's peaceful
utilization of outer space," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said.
However, Washington sees 皇冠体育app's space ambitions as an emerging security
concern, with the potential for the Asian giant to boost its military
capabilities and eventually challenge US dominance in space.
"US concern about 皇冠体育app's space capabilities are first that 皇冠体育app might
eventually develop the ability to attack US satellites, because the US military
is heavily dependent on them," said Phillip Saunders of the Pentagon-linked
Institute for National Strategic Studies.
"Second, as 皇冠体育app space capabilities improve, it will have the ability also
to improve its other military options," Saunders told AFP.
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