China's Tiangong Space Station (TSS)

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News and discussions regarding China's new space station, which is planned to complete assembly in 2022.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station

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China completes another part of its own space station paving the way for astronauts to live there

Published Mon, May 31 2021

GUANGZHOU, China — China has completed another major part of its own space station, the latest in a string of ambitious extraterrestrial projects from the world’s second-largest economy.

The Long March 7 rocket carrying the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft took off at 8:55 p.m. local time on Saturday from the Wenchang launch site, according to the China Manned Space agency.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Tianzhou-2 docked with the core module of the space station called Tianhe.

China’s space station will be made of three modules which includes the Tianhe “core,” cargo spacecraft such as Tianzhou-2 and laboratories. China will carry out 11 missions this year and next to complete the construction of the space station, and bring astronauts and supplies up too. The space station is expected to go into operation in 2022.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/31/china-c ... ation.html

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China space station: Shenzhou-12 delivers first crew to Tianhe module

40 minutes ago

China has launched three astronauts into orbit to begin occupation of the country's new space station.

The three men - Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo - are to spend three months aboard the Tianhe module some 380km (236 miles) above the Earth.

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In the past six months, the country has returned rock and soil samples to Earth from the surface of the Moon, and landed a six-wheeled robot on Mars - both highly complex and challenging endeavours.

The primary objective for Commander Nie Haisheng and his team on the Shenzhou-12 mission is to bring the 22.5-tonne Tianhe module into service.

[...]

For its part, China says it is open to foreign involvement on its station. In the first instance, this means hosted scientific experiments. For example, the Shenzhou-12 crew will conduct cancer investigations that are led from Norway. And on the outside of the station, there is an Indian-developed telescopic spectrograph to study ultraviolet emissions coming from deep space, from the likes of exploded stars.

Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57504052

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Astronauts complete first spacewalk at China's new Tiangong station
https://phys.org/news/2021-07-chinese-a ... ation.html
by Beiyi Seow
Chinese astronauts Tang Hongbo (L), Nie Haisheng (C) and Liu Boming (R) are the first crew on the nation's new space station.

Chinese astronauts successfully performed the country's first tandem spacewalk on Sunday, working for seven hours on the outside of the new Tiangong station in orbit around Earth.

Tiangong's construction is a major step in China's ambitious space programme, which has seen the nation land a rover on Mars and send probes to the Moon.

Three astronauts blasted off last month to become the station's first crew, where they are to remain for three months in China's longest crewed mission to date.

On Sunday morning, two of them exited the station for around seven hours of work in the first spacewalk at Tiangong, the China Manned Space Agency said.

"The safe return of astronauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo to the Tianhe core module marks the complete success of the first spacewalk in our country's space station construction," the space agency said.

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China to send three astronauts to Tiangong space station, part of its ambitious program
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-china-ast ... ation.html
by ANDY WONG and SIMINA MISTREANU

China's space agency is making final preparations to send a new crew to its space station on Thursday as part of its ambitious program that aims to put people on the moon by 2030.

The three-member crew of the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft will relieve the current team who have been manning China's Tiangong space station since last October.

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Chinese Tianzhou-9 Launches to Tiangong With New Food, EVA Suits
This is a new record cargo haul for the Tianzhou rocket.
By Jon Martindale July 15, 2025

China launched a new cargo haul to its Tiangong space station this week, delivering a range of additional supplies for the Taikonauts aboard the station. The haul includes new, longer-lasting EVA suits, as well as a core-targeting exercise tool and a variety of foods.

Although the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) hasn't published a launch cadence plan for 2025, it's on track to exceed last year's record. With 37 launches so far this year and 68 total in 2024, the agency looks set to get more into space in 2025 than any year before. The latest of those launches is bringing some enticing new pieces of equipment to the Tiangong station, including additional experiments and quality of life improvements for the Taikonauts currently onboard.

The Tianzhou-9 spacecraft launched on top of a Long March 7 rocket this Monday at 5:43 p.m. EST, from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on the Southern Chinese island of Hainan. It was carrying just over 14,000 pounds of supplies—around 2,200 pounds more than its previous record, according to GlobalTimes (via SpaceNews).

https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/c ... -eva-suits

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station

Tiangong (Chinese: 天宫; pinyin: Tiāngōng; lit. 'Heavenly Palace'),[5][6] officially the Tiangong space station[7] (Chinese: 天宫空间站; pinyin: Tiāngōng kōngjiānzhàn), is a permanently crewed space station constructed by China and operated by China Manned Space Agency.[8] Tiangong is a modular design, with modules docked together while in low Earth orbit, between 340 and 450 km (210 and 280 mi) above the surface. It is China's first long-term space station, part of the Tiangong program and the core of the "Third Step" of the China Manned Space Program; it has a pressurised volume of 340 m3 (12,000 cu ft), slightly over one third the size of the International Space Station. The space station aims to provide opportunities for space-based experiments and a platform for building capacity for scientific and technological innovation.[9]

The construction of the station is based on the experience gained from its precursors, Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2.[10][11][12] The first module, the Tianhe ("Harmony of the Heavens") core module, was launched on 29 April 2021.[5][6] This was followed by multiple crewed and uncrewed missions and the addition of two laboratory cabin modules. The first, Wentian ("Quest for the Heavens"), launched on 24 July 2022; the second, Mengtian ("Dreaming of the Heavens"), launched on 31 October 2022.[10]

[imghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Tiangong_Space_Station_config_2022_EN.jpg/330px-Tiangong_Space_Station_config_2022_EN.jpg][/img]

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China's Shenzhou 21 docks with space station, sets the country's own speed record
https://phys.org/news/2025-11-china-she ... ation.html
by ANDY WONG and FU TING

China announced Saturday that its Shenzhou 21 spaceship docked with China's space station with its latest three rotation crew at the country's own record speed after a successful launch.

The entire docking process lasted around 3.5 hours—three hours shorter than the previous missions, according to China Manned Space Agency.

The Shenzhou 21 spaceship took off as planned at 11:44 p.m. local time Friday from the Jiuquan launch center in northwestern China. The three astronauts on Shenzhou 21 are planned to enter the Tianhe core module of the space station after the dock.

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Pakistan to Send First International Astronauts to Chinese Tiangong Space Station
Paving way for future international in-orbit cooperation beyond the ISS' lifetime.
By Jon Martindale November 4, 2025

China is training Pakistani astronauts ahead of a selection process that will eventually see a pair of them travel to the Chinese Tiangong space station, making them the first international visitors to the station since it entered orbit in 2022. With the station designed to last upwards of a decade, this could be the first of a long-line of international missions aboard the Chinese station that could extend beyond the lifespan of the International Space Station.

"Two selected Pakistani astronauts will participate in training together with Chinese astronauts. One of them will be scheduled to carry out a short-duration flight mission as a payload expert," Zhang Jingbo, spokesperson for the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said (via Space.com).

https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/p ... gong-space

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China Brings Stranded Shenzhou-20 Astronauts Home After Finding Cracks in Capsule Window
They returned on the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft instead.
By Jon Martindale November 14, 2025
https://www.extremetech.com/aerospace/c ... ing-cracks

The trio of Chinese Taikonauts who were stranded aboard the Tianjong space station earlier this month have finally been returned home via their successor crew's orbital craft, the Shenzhou-21. They were originally set to return to Earth on Nov. 5 after a six-month stay on the station. However, orbital debris struck their return craft, the Shenzhou-20, leading the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) to activate a contingency plan.

Commander Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie returned to Earth on Nov. 14 at 3:45 a.m. EST in good health and with no ill effects from their near miss. The CMSA has confirmed the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft was not considered stable enough to return. Instead, the craft will remain in orbit for further investigations.

We have some information on what the problem was, though: There were cracks in the window.