Beijing: China plans to launch three spacecraft to its Tiangong space station in 2025, Lin Xiqiang, deputy head of the China Manned Space Agency, said on Tuesday.
“China’s manned space program will carry out three missions in 2025 — the launch of [manned spacecraft] Shenzhou-20 and Shenzhou-21, as well as [cargo spacecraft] Tianzhou-9,” Lin said at a press conference.
At the same time, according to him, Tianzhou-8 will be launched in mid-November 2024.
China also plans to launch the Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft with three astronauts on board on October 30, the official said.
“The Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 4:27 a.m. Wednesday Beijing time [8:27 p.m. GMT Tuesday],” Lin said.
The mission will be headed by astronaut Cai Xuzhe, who previously flew on the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022. Two more astronauts, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, will join the mission and it will be the first space mission for both of them. Wang will be the third Chinese woman to go into space. She is currently the only female on-board engineer in China.
The Shenzhou-19 mission is expected to remain at the orbital station for about six months. During the mission, the astronauts will perform scientific and practical tests, carry out a spacewalk and install space debris protection equipment.
Overall, the astronauts are expected to conduct 86 scientific and technical experiments.
China began construction of the Tiangong national orbital station on April 29, 2021, when the Tianhe main module was successfully launched into orbit; the assembly of the station’s main configuration was completed on November 3, 2022.
The basic configuration of the T-shaped Tiangong station now consists of the Tianhe main compartment and two laboratory modules, Wentian and Mengtian, docked with it; the three modules together weigh about 69 tonnes. The total living space of the station is approximately 110 cubic meters, it can simultaneously accommodate three taikonauts or six people during crew changes. The designed operational life of the station is 15 years — until 2038.
