April 27, 2011 12:22 pm EDT

China unveils space station, launching by 2020

China's been making its mark on the world for years, but there's still one massive piece of real estate where the country's citizens haven't hung their ubiquitous red flag: space. The China Manned Space Engineering Office hopes to change that within the next decade, however, unveiling a model of its first space station on Monday. The station's current moniker is Tiangong (Chinese for "heavenly palace") but the space agency is asking the public to suggest alternatives at [email protected] through July 25th. At 60 tons, the complete facility is significantly smaller than the 419-ton International Space Station, so residents should probably keep the man cave tidy in case Chinese astronauts need some room to stretch out while not connecting to the PlayStation Network. We're working on our own list of names for little Tiangong here, but feel free to share your submissions after the break.

China unveils space station, launching by 2020 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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