The successful launch of Shenzhou-6 manned spaceship has attracted universal attention from the world's people. Favorable comments by public opinion from various countries are surging like waves, praising China's monumental progress achieved in the exploration of the outer space, which makes China the third country independently engaging in manned spacecraft flights following the United States and Russia. Authoritative personages point out that there has emerged a new round of global space exploration upsurge.

A distinctive characteristic of this new round of upsurge is the presentation of a diversified development trend.

More and more countries are engaging in the development of space technology, there are currently as many as 60 such countries. Various countries have launched a total of over 5,000 spacecrafts, and over 700 of them are still working. Man-made satellites constitute the greatest number of spacecrafts, accounting for over 90 percent of the total. Such a situation of thousands of spacecrafts roaming in space has broken the old pattern in which former space explorations were monopolized by a few powers in science and technology, and has promoted the development of the world space undertaking.

The second characteristic is that space powers or a group of countries have all taken major actions.

Russia is reasserting its previous glory of a big space-related power. The Russian government has approved the 2006-2015 space development plan in October this year. It has increased its input of money and will absorb private investments to develop the space industry. At present, Russia has only 100-odd satellites operating in outer space, a number far lower than that of the United States and incomparable with that in the period of the former Soviet Union, which therefore cannot meet its own needs. In the next five years, Russia will launch 76 satellites. Its manned spaceship, called Clipper, will be put into use in around the year 2012 and its long-term goal is to carry out Mars and lunar manned flights.

Along with quickening pace of making themselves strong through union, European countries' desire to develop the outer space has been growing ever stronger.

European Space Agency announced its interplanetary exploration program early last year, planning to launch a space plane to realize human landing on the Mars. The prototype of the space plane had long ago successfully completed its trial flight and the first space shuttle will be born 10 years later. The "Mars Express" detector launched by Europe discovered in January 2004 the existence of frozen water in the south pole of the Mars, the first time human beings discovered water directly on the surface of the Mars. In January 2004, the United States announced a new space development program, planning to send US astronaut into the moon between 2015-2020 and to set up in the moon a long-term base as a springboard for landing on the Mars and other celestial bodies.

The program also includes two important contents: one is that the United States will strive to complete the development and test of a new manned spacecraft in 2008; second is that the United States will get its space plane "relieved from service" after completing the installation of an international space station before 2010, bringing to an end the work obligation it undertakes at the international space station. Around the time of the publication of the program, the "Spirit" and "Opportunity" of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration successfully landed on the Mars one after the other, achieving major scientific research results. The two successful launches of the "Space Ship One" last year by US private manned spacecraft mark the beginning of US private enterprise's involvement in the manned space field. The successful landing of the "Discovery" space plane after flying for 14 days in the latter half of July this year has swept away the haze caused by the accident of the "Columbia" space plane.

Since ancient times, humans have been dreaming of flying out of the earth, getting to know the mystery of the outer space and exploiting resources of the universe.

Forty-four years have elapsed since former Soviet astronaut Y.A. Gagarin took the lead in traveling by spaceship into the outer space, manned spaceship flights have experienced the joy of success and the bitterness of failure.

Experience indicates that exploration and utilization of the outer space is a highly risky undertaking requiring high input, it can't be lasting and deep-going by relying on the efforts of only one or two countries, the human space exploratory undertaking can make quicker progress only through wider international cooperation. Take the international space station, so far the largest space cooperative program of humankind, for example. It involves a total investment of US$63 billion and 16 countries including the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency member countries, Japan, Canada and Brazil that participate in the construction of the international space station. As a member of the World Space Club, China has always made active efforts to strengthen exchange and cooperation with various countries in the space field.

By People's Daily Online