China confident in space exploration

BEIJING - China's Shenzhou-X manned spacecraft successfully completed an automated docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space module Thursday, proving China has mastered space docking technology and is confident in space exploration for peaceful purposes.

From initial manned spacecraft flights to space lab docking, China's manned space undertaking achieved huge progress in the past decade.

Shenzhou-X powered by a Long March-2F carrier rocket is no longer experimental but considered a second only applicable shuttle system in the world besides Russia's Soyuz spaceship for transporting personnel and supplies to orbiting modules.

As a latecomer in space technology, the success China made in a short time was beneficial from the "little step walk" principle, which requires one hundred percent guarantee for each move during aerospace research and exploration.

China successfully sent the country's first astronaut into orbit in 2003 and another seven astronauts, including one female, into space in the next nine years, and mastered automated and manual docking technology, said Cheng Bin, an expert with the US think-tank Heritage Foundation.

He noted that the development of China's manned space flights is amazing and followed prescribed order.

Furthermore, China's policy of "concentrate resources and do big things," provides the space program with the most advanced technology, the most professional working team, and the most talented personnel.

There were 400,000 American aerospace staff behind Neil Armstrong when he walked on the moon. Similarly, 700,000 Chinese aerospace researchers and thousands of departments in China have been contributing to the space mission.

Reaching for the moon has been a long cherished wish for the Chinese nation since ancient time. So China's space program, which pursues peaceful use of space to benefit human kind, helped the Chinese people realize their space dream.

Since the manned spaceflight program launched in 1992, China has actively carried out cooperation with concerned countries and regions in this area in order to promote the progress and development of the world's space technology.