On Thursday, China sent into space the core module of its space station, aim to complete the construction of the station by the end of next year. The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, carrying the Tianhe module, launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan.
Tianhe has a total length of 16.6 meters, a maximum diameter of 4.2 meters and a takeoff mass of 22.5 tonnes, and is the largest spacecraft developed by China.
The space station will be a T shape with the core module at the center and a lab capsule on each side. Each module will be over 20 tonnes. The station will operate in the low-Earth orbit at an altitude from 340 km to 450 km. It has a designed lifespan of 10 years, but experts believe it could last more than 15 years with appropriate maintenance and repairs.