Chinanews, Beijing, May 18 – During the eleventh five-year period (2006-2010), China will build a space information system. The system will contain altogether 60-70 satellites and will be used to serve the economic and social development of China, said Zhang Qingwei, general manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and chairman of the Chinese Society of Astronautics.He disclosed the information on Wednesday in a interview given to a reporter after attending the Eleventh International Space Conference of Pacific-basin Societies(ISCOPS). The conference was jointly held by the Chinese Society of Astronautics, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Japanese Rocket Society.At present, China's rocket research work is transforming from experimental application type to operational service type. China plans to send the first moon probe satellite into space this year, Zhang said.Next year, China will send three small satellites into space, which will form as a group for use in monitoring and forecasting environmental disasters. China intends to send several more small satellites in two to three years to come, so that the total number of small satellites in this group will be increased to seven. The satellite group can monitor, predict and assess environmental disasters over a large scale on a 24-hour basis. With these efforts, it is hoped that China can raise its ability to avoid possible natural disasters and protect the environment in a more comprehensive way, said Zhang.On a separate occasion, CASC vice general manager Ma Xinrui once said at the China International Aviation & Aerospace Forum that during the eleventh five-year period, China would produce about 100 space vehicles, including telecommunication and broadcasting satellites, earth resource satellites, retrievable satellites, meteorological satellites, navigation satellites and satellites used for scientific experiments.