China's ambitions in space: National pride or taking on the Americans? 9 May, 2021 06:13 AM 11 minutes to read The core module of China's space station, Tianhe, on the the Long March-5B Y2 rocket is moved to the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in southern China's Hainan Province in April. Photo / AP The core module of China's space station, Tianhe, on the the Long March-5B Y2 rocket is moved to the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in southern China's Hainan Province in April. Photo / AP Financial Times By: Christian Shepherd and James Kynge When Chinese engineers launched the first part of the country's permanent space station into the Earth's orbit late last month President Xi Jinping told them they had achieved a glowing place in the nation's history.