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China is willing to provide training and open the Chinese space station to foreign astronauts, senior space flight officials said.

"We would like to train astronauts from other countries and organizations that have such a demand, and we would be glad to provide trips to foreign astronauts," said Yang Liwei, deputy director of China Manned Space Agency. We will also welcome foreign astronauts who have received our training to work in our future space station."

Yang, China's first astronaut, who went into space in 2003, said many countries submitted proposals to the Chinese government during the development of the space station, hoping China would help train their astronauts and then send them to the station to conduct scientific experiments.

The effect of including foreign participants in our space programs is not only that these nations can send their people to outer space, but also that we will enable them to develop their own space projects."

Yang made the remarks during the five-day United Nations/China Workshop on Human Space Technology, which opened in Beijing on Monday.

A total of 150 participants from more than 20 nations and regions attended the conference. They are expected to discuss new space projects, microgravity research, international cooperation as well as awareness education for the public.

China has been involved in a host of cooperative projects with other nations, according to Yang.

China and Russia have collaborated on astronaut training, spacecraft technology and extra-vehicular suits, and we are cooperating with our French counterparts on a variety of experiments in astrobiology and space medicine," he said, adding that Chinese and German scientists also performed astrobiological experiments during the unmanned Shenzhou VIII mission in 2011.

Astronauts from the European Space Agency and their Chinese peers have visited each other's training facilities, laying a solid foundation for further communication.

The exchanges with other countries and organizations will make us familiar with their techniques and experiences, hence boosting our research and development of the space station."

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China's space station to open for foreign peers

A commercial cargo ship making its maiden flight to the International Space Station aborted its initial approach to the lab complex early Sunday because of suspect navigation data.

Officials with Orbital Sciences Corp., builder of the Cygnus cargo craft, said engineers quickly identified the problem and were developing a software patch, but another approach was on hold until Tuesday.

"This morning, at around 1:30 a.m. EDT, Cygnus established direct data contact with the ISS and found that some of the data received had values that it did not expect, causing Cygnus to reject the data," NASA and Orbital said in web site updates. "This mandated an interruption of the approach sequence.

"Orbital has subsequently found the causes of this discrepancy and is developing a software fix. The minimum turnaround time to resume the approach to the ISS following an interruption such as this is approximately 48 hours due to the orbital mechanics of the approach trajectory."

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The Cygnus cargo ship, launched Wednesday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Island, Va., was developed under a $288 million contract with NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, program.

Orbital is one of two commercial cargo carriers hired by NASA to take over U.S. space station logistics in the wake of the space shuttle's retirement.

If the test flight is successful, Orbital will be clear to begin routine cargo delivery missions later this year under a separate $1.9 billion contract calling for at least eight missions to deliver some 40,000 pounds of supplies and equipment.

Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, holds a $1.6 billion contract to conduct at least 12 space station resupply missions with its Dragon cargo ship. SpaceX has conducted two operational flights to the station.

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Commercial cargo ship aborts space station approach