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As for the future space station, Gu Yidong said the core module of the space station will be launched from Hainan in the new launching center, which is currently under construction.
And the cargo spaceship will be launched from the existing launching center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu province, to provide supplies to the space station each year, Gu said.
Pang Zhihao, researcher and deputy editor-in-chief of the monthly Space International, said yesterday that China now faces several difficulties in launching the space laboratories.
"Difficulties include developing a large launching vehicle, and solving the life support and temperature control problems," he said.
Providing a larger space and a longer operation time, a space station can enable the exploration of space for a longer amount of time, which spaceships cannot currently achieve, he said.
Chinese astronauts have already carried out extravehicular activity during the Shenzhou VII mission last year, signaling a good start of the manned space program's second phase.
The next move expected will be the launch of Tiangong I, or Heavenly Palace I, scheduled at the end of 2010 or at the beginning of 2011, Xinhua News Agency reported earlier.
Qi Faren, chief designer of the Shenzhou spacecraft, told China Daily in March that Shenzhou VIII, Shenzhou IX and Shenzhou X will dock with Tiangong I to test the docking technology.
If Shenzhou VIII, an unmanned spaceship, successfully docks with Tiangong I in 2011 as planned, manned spaceships will be launched to dock with Tiangong I. Then efforts will follow to improve Tiangong I and develop space laboratories, Qi said.
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