China's Ambitious Expansion of Tiangong Space Station with New Modules and Co-orbiting Craft
China plans to expand its Tiangong space station from three to six modules in the coming years, with a multi-functional expansion module with six docking ports set to be launched first. The expanded station would be just over a third of the mass of the International Space Station (ISS). China is also developing inflatable modules for potential habitats and preliminary verification for crewed lunar exploration. Additionally, a co-orbiting space telescope named Xuntian is planned to be launched in 2024, and more spacecraft are expected to fly co-orbitally with the Chinese space station. The expansion of Tiangong reflects China's increasing resources for the space sector and its ambitious plans for space exploration, including sending astronauts to the moon and constructing an International Lunar Research Station.