FILE: In Space - Date Unknown (China National Space Administration - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of in-orbit shots of component, robotic arm outside module

Beijing, China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of engineers working in control center
3. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xie Yuan, engineer, Beijing Aerospace Control Center (partially overlaid with shot 4):
"When astronauts go out of the spacecraft, we should, while ensuring that they can manage the task, safeguard the ground support, the measurement and control, the coordination of robotic arms, and the settings of the entire space station. We need to adjust all of them according to the progress of the astronauts' mission. The efficiency of the extravehicular activity witnessed an increase as the coordination between the space and ground teams improved."
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++

FILE: In Space - Date Unknown (China National Space Administration - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of robotic arm outside module, astronaut carrying out extravehicular task
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
5. Various of robotic arm outside module, astronaut carrying out extravehicular task
6. Animation showing space station complex completing transposition maneuver in orbit
7. Space station complex in orbit

Beijing, China - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Engineers working
9. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xie Yuan, engineer, Beijing Aerospace Control Center (ending with shot 10):
"The robotic arm, a robot system functioning in space, requires control with high accuracy. It's quite challenging for the ground team."

FILE: In Space - Date Unknown (China National Space Administration - No access Chinese mainland)
10. Various of robotic arm outside module, astronaut carrying out extravehicular task

The robotic arm control team of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) have been stepping up preparations for the first extravehicular activities conducted by the Shenzhou-15 astronauts.

The Shenzhou-15 crew members entered China's Tiangong Space Station in late November to begin their six-month stint in space and will soon embark on their first extravehicular activities, with the robotic arms on-board the station set to be deployed as part of these key in-space assignments.

The space station is equipped with two robotic arms, including a 10-meter-long robotic arm attached to the Tianhe core module and a smaller one on the Wentian lab module which can carry payloads of up to three tons.

To ensure the robotic arms can successfully play its role in assisting the astronauts' extravehicular operations, the BACC ground control team have carried out rounds of rehearsals to run through these critical in-space operational procedures by a ground simulation system.

Ground specialists say the space walk is a demanding task but the team is doing better.

"When astronauts go out of the spacecraft, we should, while ensuring that they can manage the task, safeguard the ground support, the measurement and control, the coordination of robotic arms, and the settings of the entire space station. We need to adjust all of them according to the progress of the astronauts' mission. The efficiency of the extravehicular activity witnessed an increase as the coordination between the space and ground teams improved," said Xie Yuan, an engineer at BACC.

Xie said that the remote operation of these robot arms can be complicated as the whole robotic system has just seven degrees of freedom, adding that the collaborative operation between astronauts, in-space equipment and ground systems all requires a high level of precision.

"The robotic arm, a robot system functioning in space, requires control with high accuracy. It's quite challenging for the ground team," she said.