By 3:44 April 15, the ShenzhouVI orbital module has been operating well in the sky for half a year as originally planned.

Deputy Chief Engineer of the Beijing Space flight Control Center Tong Bin said they expected the follow-up orbit module could operate in the sky for some time in the future so that they could conduct more scientific experiment.

In the past six months, the Shenzhou VI orbit module has been flying around the earth 2,920 times, and various scientific experiments have been carried out smoothly.

The orbit module's attitude control system, space tracking, telemetering and control system, all instruments inside the module, and data management system have been operating well. The orbit module has completed a series of scientific tests and experiments, which lays a solid foundation for carrying out future orbit module management tasks, for space connection work, and the Chang'e moon exploration project.

It is reported that fuel consumption of the Shenzhou VI orbit module is carried out according to a best possible plan, therefore achieving a breakthrough in both management and quality control. Experts predict that the Shenzhou VI orbit module will operate in space for the longest time.

The follow-up orbit module will continue to work in space in the future. This shows that China has made improvement in its flight control technology for low-track space flight device, and the follow-up obit module will enable scientists to carry more experiments in space.

(Chinanews April 18, 2006)