BEIJING – China’s first orbital space station will be the national space program’s test bed for automatic docking, one of four technological hurdles that must be cleared before launching a big station a decade from now. The small, short-lived space station, already identified as Tiangong 1, will be launched as soon as next year. Its mass has grown from the eight metric tons previously stated and is now given as 8.5 tons.

Chinese airlines will renegotiate timing of aircraft deliveries while sticking by contractual commitments, the civil aviation administration says. The administration has urged the carriers to cut 2009 deliveries and now says that they will negotiate directly with the aircraft suppliers. Separately, Air China has finally joined the other big Chinese airlines in seeking more capital from its government owner. Chairman Kong Dong says it has asked for at least 3 billion yuan ($440 million), the amount granted to its larger rival, China Southern.

Australia has dropped plans to buy the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk for maritime surveillance, citing program delays that would have created a workload clash with the proposed introduction of Boeing P-8 Poseidons in the middle of the next decade.