Building on success: Chinese tourists gather to watch the Shenzhou-7 manned spacecraft on top of the Long-March II-F rocket being transferred to the launchpad on September 20, 2008. The launch site is located at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu province.
Credit: AFP
The divine vessel
Although some members of the U.S. Congress have expressed concern about China's growing ambitions in space, NASA's huge budget – 17.3 billion dollar this year alone – will ensure American domination for a long time to come. Even so, China has already surpassed Japan as the most powerful space nation in Asia, and is far ahead of fledgling space power India too.
"China has sent a man into space largely by itself, while Japan depends on the United States," said Sourbes-Verger. But for China, it is the prestige that remains a driving force in its programme, experts said.
"Certainly, a space programme shows the economic and scientific power of a nation," said Hu Xingdou, professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology. "Currently more and more nations are capable of launching satellites, but very few have succeeded in going to outer space."
So far, China's space authorities have shown nothing but confidence in the success of the flight of the Shenzhou, or "divine vessel," and are already beginning preparations to recruit a second generation of taikonauts.
