China told us last year that they plan to build a space station by 2020, but on Monday at the Airshow China exhibition they revealed a lot more detail about the Heavenly Palace.
At 60 tons, the Chinese station will be far smaller than the nearly complete International Space Station, but it's still a pretty complicated deal with two laboratory modules clustered around a central core module. A spokesman from China's space agency said that the station is expected to last about a decade, and will host experiments in microgravity science, space radiation biology and astronomy.
To go along with their new diggs, the Chinese are developing a new unmanned supply ship, which can bring fresh equipment and supplies to the station's three person crew. China says that their docking mechanisms will be fully compatible with the ISS, so don't rule out some kind of joint operation in the future.
With NASA winding down a lot of their operations, what this move might mean politically is open for discussion.
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