China, UN collaborate on space exploration

World Today

What does the future hold for space exploration? In Vienna, the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs held a ceremony to celebrate new collaborations with China.

CGTN’s Mariam Zaidi reports on international cooperation efforts.

China’s Manned Space Agency and the U.N. agency for Outer Space Affairs have been dedicated to researching and cooperating for peaceful space exploration. In 2016, they signed an agreement allowing both U.N. member states and developing countries to conduct space experiments on board China’s new space station that is set to be launched into orbit in 2022.

This will be China’s third generation Chinese Space Station. It is being designed to support a three-man crew to live and work onboard continuously. It will be used to gather scientific research to help better understand space and explore the possibility of living there.

“If we are able to change the perception that space is something far away, that it is not part of our life. I believe that the next step in the space era will be for all of us to go and spend time, and learn how to live in microgravity,” Simonetta Di Pippo of U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs said.

As countries and private sector are ramping up their collaborative efforts in space exploration, it may take us to infinity and beyond.   


Former NASA astronaut Leory Chiao talks China’s space aspirations

CGTN’s Mike Walter spoke to Leory Chiao on the future of space exploration for China. Chiao is a former NASA astronaut and International Space Station (ISS) commander.