China to produce 2 additional types of cargo spacecraft

China will produce two additional types of cargo spacecraft with different functions to service its future manned space station, according to a space program manager.

That will make a total of three, including Tianzhou 1, which is now in space, Yang Baohua, deputy general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, was quoted by China Daily as having said. 

That spaceship's cargo cabin is hermetically sealed because one of the spacecraft's tasks is to test in-orbit resupply technology, including the transportation of astronauts' necessities that require isolation from space.

"We will design two variants of Tianzhou 1," Yang said. The first variant will have a cargo area that is hermetically sealed like the Tianzhou 1 as well as a cargo area that is partly open to space to allow for more storage, he said.

The first variant will be used to transport astronauts' supplies and small spare parts needed at the space station.

The second variant will be open and will carry cargo that does not need protection from space conditions. It will haul large parts as well as any spacecraft to be launched from the station, he said.

In the case of all three types of spacecraft, the propulsion cabin will remain hermetically sealed like that of Tianzhou 1, Yang said. None of the craft will be designed to be reusable.

Source: MENA