China plans to launch first cargo spacecraft

China plans to launch its first cargo spacecraft using a heavy rocket to carry supplies for its experimental space laboratory.
The Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft will be carried by Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket in April, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The spacecraft arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in south China's Hainan Province from Tianjin today for assembly and testing, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
Consisting of a cargo capsule and a propellant capsule, Tianzhou-1, the first cargo spacecraft independently developed by China, has a take-off weight of about 13 tonnes, up to six tonnes of which is payload, the report said.

It can remain in space on its own for as long as three months.
It is capable of docking with the Tiangong-2 space lab and refuelling it in addition to carrying out experiments and tests.

The Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket is scheduled to arrive at the launch centre in March, the CMSA said.
The launch of Tianzhou-1 will be a crucial step for China in building a space station by 2020, as cargo spacecraft are required to ship necessities to astronauts aboard the station.
China plans to conduct a "record"numberof 30 space launch missions thisyearas part of its efforts to expand its ambitious space programme.

The record-breakingnumberof space launches will begin withLong March-5 and Long March-7 rockets,China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation had said earlier.
Last August,China successfully launched the world's first quantumsatellitewhich boasts of hack-proof ultra high security features to prevent wiretapping and intercepts.