Space station module to be lofted in first half of 2021 By ZHANG YANGFEI in Shaoshan, Hunan | China Daily | Updated: 2020-12-26 07:29 Share CLOSE Zhang Xiaoguang, an astronaut on the 2013 flight of Shenzhou X, unveiled the mission's reentry capsule at a ceremony in Shaoshan, Hunan province, at which the capsule was given to the provincial government for permanent exhibition at the Mao Zedong Memorial Museum. [Photo/China News Service] China will launch the core module of the country's first space station in the first half of 2021, Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space project, said on Friday. The space station is expected to be completed around 2022. All testing of its core module has been completed, and the Long March 5B rocket, a heavy-lift launch vehicle that made its maiden flight in May, is also in its final stages of testing, he said.