China to launch Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft in 2017

China will launch Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft in 2017, said an official last Saturday. China's second orbiting space lab Tiangong-2 to be send in the third quarter of this year to dock with Tiangong-2, said Wu Ping, Deputy Director of China Manned Space Engineering Office. Deputy Director, China Manned Space Engineering Office, Wu Ping ..... "After the CZ-7 carrier rocket undergoes fly test and check, it will be used to transport the Tianzhou 1 cargo spacecraft to dock with the Tiangong-2, to test the key technologies of space station construction and operation of transporting cargo and replenishing propellants in orbits. In the future construction and operation of space station, the cargo spacecraft will bear important tasks including replenish cargo and propellent. 

Then she added, China plans to start the construction of its space station by around 2020.China already launched its first space lab, Tiangong-1, in September 2011 and has conducted two dockings with the module in the following two years. The Tiangong-1 has been in service for four years and a half and is in good working condition, which enables it to remain in orbit for continued.