Designers flight-test re-entry capsule of reusable manned craft

China is developing a next-generation, reusable manned spacecraft, senior space agency officials revealed over the weekend after a test flight on a major part of the new craft.

"The overall capability of our next-generation manned spacecraft will be much stronger than that of the Shenzhou series," Zhang Hongtai, president of the China Academy of Space Technology, which develops China's spacecraft, said on Sunday.

"The number of astronauts it can carry will be double that of the Shenzhou craft, and it will be able to reach deeper space as well as fulfill manned lunar missions and manned Mars explorations."