Manned spacecraft under development

Chinese engineers are developing the nation's second generation of manned spacecraft which will be tasked with servicing the country's space station and participating in manned lunar missions, said a researcher involved with the program.

The new-generation spacecraft, which has yet to be named, will have a new aerodynamic design that will be more streamlined than the Shenzhou series, China's first-generation manned spacecraft family, said Yang Lei, a senior designer at the China Academy of Space Technology, while speaking at the Fifth Manned Space Conference on Wednesday in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

It will consist of two sections - a re-entry module that will house astronauts and control the entire craft during flight, and a service module that will contain power and propulsion systems, he said.