| 21:44:39 |
President Hu Jintao and other leaders applauded the successful launch of China's first space lab module Tiangong-1, and shook hands with the staff of the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center. |
| 21:41:14 |
Commander-in-chief of China's manned space program Chang Wanquan announced Thursday night that the launch of Tiangong-1 space lab module is successful. |
| 21:38:48 |
China's first space lab module Tiangong-1 has successfully entered a low Earth orbit. |
| 21:32:30 |
The Tiangong-1 space lab module opened its two solar panels. |
| 21:31:50 |
The Tiangong-1 space lab module successfully separated from the second stage of Long March-2FT1 carrier rocket at a height of about 200 kilometers above the Earth. |
| 21:25:42 |
Yang Hong, deputy manager of design for the Tiangong-1 project, said the spacecraft goes beyond what is necessary to provide a comfortable environemnt, providing extras such as an exercise bicycle, entertainment equipment and a video phone. |
| 21:16:40 |
China's first space lab module Tiangong-1 blasted off at 9:16 p.m. Beijing Time (1316 GMT) Thursday. |
| 21:11:03 |
President Hu Jintao arrived at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center around 9 p.m. Thursday to watch the launch of the nation's first space lab module Tiangong-1, which is scheduled to blast off as early as 15 minutes later. |
| 21:03:17 |
All staff have left the launch tower for the ignition of carrier rocket Long March-2FT1 to launch China's Tiangong-1 space lab module in 15 minutes. |
| 21:01:52 |
Names of Chinese space facilities usually have cultural connotations. In Chinese, Tiangong means heavenly palace. China has successfully launched Shenzhou spacecrafts and Chang'e moon orbiters. Shenzhou means magic vessel, and Chang'e was the mythical Chinese goddess who, according to legend, flew to the moon. |
| 20:53:41 |
Chen Hongmin, director of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, said the average age of personnel participating in the Tiangong-1 mission is 33. |
| 20:39:17 |
All supporting structures at a tower to launch China's Tiangong-1 space lab module have been removed. The carrier rocket Long March-2FT1 could be seen on the launch pad. |
| 20:38:01 |
The Shenzhou-10 will be a manned spacecraft, possibly carrying a female astronaut who will test docking with the Tiangong-1. The docking tests conducted through the Tiangong-1 module will provide experience for the building of China's permanent manned space station around 2020. |
| 20:37:18 |
Zhou also warns: "Since we have never conducted this test before, and the system is so complicated, we have many unknowns. It is highly risky." |
| 20:35:53 |
Zhou Jianping, the chief designer of China's manned space program, commented on the development of its docking technology on Thursday: "We can never count on other countries to sell their mature technology to us, so we have to rely on our own." |
| 20:17:42 |
Ignition of the Long March-2FT1 rocket to boost China's Tiangong-1 space lab module is in the final hour countdown. The launch control is in hand of Commander Zero Wang Jun, chief of the lift-off procedure at the launch center. |
| 19:19:58 |
Tiangong-1 mission in two-hour countdown to launch in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. |
| 17:12:43 |
It's now only four hours from the beginning of the launch window for the Tiangong-1 space module. So far all checks and preparations for the launch are going smoothly. Launch officials are gathering at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and beginning the countdown to liftoff. |
| 17:08:51 |
Maritime monitoring vessels have arrived at a designated area in the Pacific Ocean to track the upcoming space journey of the Tiangong-1. |
| 14:24:34 |
Tiangong-1 mission in seven-hour countdown to launch. At 2:16 p.m. Beijing time (6:16 GMT), all flight controllers started to check up each system's functions. |
| 13:25:18 |
Tiangong-1 to be launched in 8 hrs. All flight controllers for the Tiangong-1 mission are in position at Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center. |
