The Shanghai 1 spacecraft has reached lunar orbit

China backtracked on previous statements and announced its intention to launch a manned space station in 2020. Officials do not comment

The Shenja 1 spacecraft, named after the Chinese goddess who flew to the moon - performed its final trajectory adjustment at the end of a two-week journey and entered orbit at an altitude of 200 kilometers from the moon, and will explore its surface for the next year. The first photographs from the moon are due to be sent to Earth later this month. By early 2008, the spacecraft will have measured the entire lunar surface at least once, officials say.

China sees its space program as a source of national pride, and it sees it as justification for the claim that it is one of the most scientifically advanced countries. China has sent astronauts into space twice in the past 4 years, launching its moon probe a month after rival Japan.

In 2003, China became the third country in total after the USA and Russia to send humans into orbit. However, on Wednesday senior officials denied reports in the Chinese state media that China plans to launch a space station in 2020. So far, according to the plans published by the Chinese, there is no plan for a space station, said Li Guoping, spokesman for the China National Space Agency at a press conference.

The China Daily reported that the planned Chinese space station would actually be a small laboratory weighing 20 tons, as quoted by the newspaper as Lug Lihao, a senior designer of the Long March 3A rocket, the rocket that launched Shanghe 1 into space. Chinese space program officials have so far said they wanted to build a space station in the next 10 to 15 years, but this is the first time any date has been officially announced, Long told China Daily.

The report did not specify how many people the station could accommodate, but its weight is about a tenth of the weight of the International Space Station, which can accommodate up to six people. The launch of the spacecraft to the moon has put the competition between China and Japan in the headlines, and India is also supposed to join in launching its lunar spacecraft in April.

However, senior officials in China have played down talk of the space race, saying that Beijing wants to use its space program to work together with other countries. Lee said that China wants to join the member countries of the space station program - which currently has 16 countries.

China does not participate in the project due to the American restrictions that prohibit trade with the communist dictatorship.