The Last Tiangong

In less than a year, China is expected to launch the Tiangong 2 space laboratory. Despite its name, Tiangong 2 is expected to be a small space station, just like its predecessor, Tiangong 1. With its long flights and complex tasks, the Tiangong program has taken China's human spaceflight program to new lengths, but it's really designed to prove the technologies required for the Chinese Space Station (CSS). This large, modular complex seems to be well on the pathway to launch in a few years. Tiangong is not an end in its own right, but an intermediate step between undocked human space missions and a permanent foothold in space. That's critical. The Tiangong program is useful only as long as it is preparing China for its space station. More

(Source: Space Daily - Oct 21)