China's space station expected to make scientific discoveries

This simulated image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on May 30, 2023 shows Shenzhou-16 crewed spaceship conducting a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of core module Tianhe of the space station.(Xinhua/Li Jie)

BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The orbiting Tiangong space station is expected to obtain pivotal scientific discoveries and innovative achievements in the future, the China Manned Space Agency's spokesperson Lin Xiqiang said on Friday.

China's space station has entered a phase of application and development that will span more than 10 years after its construction was completed in 2022.

Lin said it could hopefully produce groundbreaking scientific discoveries on cosmology, dark matter and dark energy, galaxies, active galactic nuclei, the Milky Way and its close galaxies, star formation and evolution, and exoplanets.

The space station's objectives in frontier research are "the origin and evolution of the universe, the nature of matter, and the long-term survival of human beings in space," said Lin.

The space lab's ultra-cold atomic physics experiment platform will prepare the quantum gas close to absolute zero, which cannot occur on the ground.

Also, the in-orbit research on stem cells, organ chips, protein crystallization, and synthetic biology manufacturing could bring new possibilities for regenerative medicine, precision medicine, and drug discovery, said Lin.

He added that new instruments concerning mammal breeding and brain science will eventually be installed in the space station.