China has just unveiled its five-year plan for space exploration. The Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense initiated China's space program recently, setting out six major goals.

The space exploration blueprint will meet with demands from national economic development and national security, aimed at building up an innovative country. It promotes China's independent innovation capacity in space exploration, putting forward scientific plans and implementing relevant measures.

An imaginary photo illustrating China's Moon exploration program in the future. [Photo: sina.com.cn]

According to the program, China will gradually form a scientific system covering many cutting edge fields, fully leveling up its space exploration, realizing great research progress across a broad range of fields and achieving original research results matching and exceeding the most advanced international level.

The program nails down six major goals, including the exploration of the moon and Mars, astronomical observations, probing solar-earth space environment and solar system, as well as exploring tiny-gravity science and space life science.

In the future manned missions, Chinese astronauts will walk out of their spaceships. And spaceships will also meet and dock with other spaceships in space.

China will launch a circling satellite this year to probe the moon. After that, a satellite will land on the moon in 2012, and another one will collect samples and return home from the moon in 2017.

China will develop a Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope and launch it in 2010 independently, marking a breakthrough in China's black hole research, particularly.

China is also to launch its 10th practical recoverable satellite in 2009, carrying out the research into tiny gravity science and space life science.

China will cooperate with Russia in the probing of the Mars space environment and the World Satellite Observatory of Ultra-Violet (WSO/UV), and cooperate with France in producing the small satellite probe for examining storms from the sun.

China is to carry out research into the core technology of the space solar telescope, as well as contributing preliminary research to the Kuafu Mission, exploring the sun.

The Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense is to stipulate new policies and measures to ensure and support the smooth implementation of China's space program.