China on Thursday successfully launched its second experimental space lab as part of an ambitious programme by the Communist giant to build a manned space station by 2022, the time when US-led International Space Station is expected to go out of service. The Tiangong-2 space lab was successfully launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwestern China’s Gobi desert. China’s manned space program has now entered a new phase of application and development,” Wu Ping, deputy director of China’s manned space engineering office, said. China’s space station is expected to be sent into orbit just as the US-led International Space Station goes out of service -- making China potentially the only country with a permanent space presence. As it launched the second space station, China on Wednesday announced that its first space lab Tiangong-1 is expected to fall into the Earth’s atmosphere in the latter half of 2017.

Source: Hindustan Times September 15, 2016 16:18 UTC