REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Oct 5 (Reuters) - China plans to expand its space station to six modules from three in coming years, offering astronauts from other nations an alternative platform for near-Earth missions as the NASA-led International Space Station (ISS) nears the end of its lifespan.
The operational lifetime of the Chinese space station will be more than 15 years, the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a unit of China's main space contractor, said at the 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday.
At 180 metric tons after its expansion to six modules, Tiangong is still just 40% of the mass of the ISS, which can hold a crew of seven astronauts.
Russia, a participant in the ISS, has similar space diplomacy plans, suggesting that Moscow's partners in the BRICS group - Brazil, India, China and South Africa - could construct a module for its space station.
Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said last year it was planning to build a space station comprising six modules that could accommodate up to four cosmonauts.
Persons:
Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, Zhang Lu, Florence, Tiangong, Ryan Woo, Gerry Doyle
Organizations:
REUTERS, Rights, NASA, Space, China Academy of Space Technology, International Astronautical, European Space Agency, ESA, Global Times, U.S, Thomson
Locations:
Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING, Baku, Azerbaijan, European, U.S, United States, Russia, Brazil, India, South Africa, Russian