Xinhua News Agency:

With the completion of the verification stage of the key technologies of the space station, the project has officially entered the construction stage. Could you please share with us what is to be expected for the manned space flight project after the complete construction of China's space station? Thank you.

Hao Chun:

Thank you for your concern for the future development of the project. After the in-orbit construction of the space station this year, the project will proceed to its application and development stage, which will last more than a decade. Our preliminary plan is to launch two manned spacecraft and two cargo spacecraft every year. The astronauts will stay a long time in orbit to conduct scientific space experiments and technology tests and take care of the space station. In a bid to further improve the comprehensive abilities and technological level of the project, we will develop a new generation of manned carrier rockets and manned spacecraft, and the new-generation carrier rockets and the return capsule of the new-generation manned spacecraft will be reusable. The comprehensive abilities of the new generation of manned spacecraft will be greatly enhanced as it will be able to take up to seven astronauts with stronger ascending and descending payload capacity. Meanwhile, we are thinking of expanding the module of the space station in a bid to further support in-orbit scientific experiments and provide better working and living conditions for the astronauts. 

Additionally, during the application and development stage, we will use the laboratory cabinets inside of the module and large payload facilities outside of the module to conduct larger-scale space research experiments and new technology tests, which will mainly be in such fields as space life-science and human body research, microgravity physics science, and space astronomy and geoscience. Notably, next year, we plan to launch China's first large space survey telescope to conduct wide-area space surveys and undertake cutting-edge scientific research in the formation and evolution of the cosmic structure, dark matter and dark energy, exoplanets and solar bodies, and so on. We are looking forward to a batch of major innovative results.

Also, we will actively explore the commercial development model of manned spaceflight and introduce social forces to participate in the construction, operation, and maintenance of the space station in order to constantly improve its comprehensive benefits and promote the high-quality development of China's manned spaceflight engineering.

Throughout the development history of manned spaceflight around the world, the moon has always been a favored place for manned spaceflight to move towards deep space. China's manned spaceflight project will move from near-earth to earth-moon space and then to deeper space. In the process of building the space station, we have also strived to make key technological breakthroughs and conducted studies and research on the plan for a manned lunar probe. I believe that the millennia-long romantic dream of the Chinese nation for a trip to the moon represented by the tales of Chang'e and others will become reality in the near future. 

Thank you.