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　　Encouraged by the success of its first manned space mission, China says it is looking to launch(发射)another Shenzhou spacecraft within "one or two years' time" and is pushing ahead with plans to develop a permanently manned presence iu space．

　　In comments reported just hours after the Shenzhou V's safe return to Earth, the official Xinhua news agency quoted(引用)a leading space official as saying China's next steps would be to work on launching a space laboratory and then a space station into orbit(轨道)．

　　"The successful mission of Shenzhou V is the first step of China's space program．" the agency quoted Zhang Qingwei as saying．

　　Although Zhang gave few details and no specific timescale for the plans, the announcement is the clearest official statement to date concerning China's plans for space exploration．

　　Speaking later at a Beijing news conference, Xie Mingbao, director of the manned space office, said he expected to launch another Shenzhou capsule before the end of 2005．

　　"In one or two years' time, I think Shenzhou VI will be launched．" Xie said in response to a reporter's question．

　　Zhang, the second most senior officer in charge of the country's space program, said the next major tasks to tackle would be to perfect orbital docking technologies and procedures．

　　Precise docking between spacecraft and orbiting modules is essential to placing a space lab in orbit, Xinhua quoted Zhang as saying．

　　He did not say whether the proposed space lab would be manned or conduct experiments using automated equipment．

　　Beijing has not been involved in the U．S．and Russian-led International Space Station(ISS), although there has been speculation(思索)that China may be invited to join in the near future．Although earlier reports in Chinese media have speculated on the future course of the space program, Zhang's comments are the clearest indication yet that such plans have high level official support．

　　Aside from the space station, Chinese scientists are also reported to be working on plans to send unmanned probes to the moon with a view to eventually landing a Chinese astronaut on the lunar surface．