China will send 2 crewed missions to Tiangong this year
China will send two crewed missions to its newly operational Tiangong space station this year, along with supplies on a Tianzhou cargo spacecraft. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that it plans to launch the Shenzhou 16 crew mission to the space station in May. The following crewed mission, Shenzhou 17 will be launched five months later, in October.
Why does this story matter?
The Tiangong space station, also called the "Heavenly Palace," is China's new permanently crewed space station. It has three modules: the core module, Tianhe, which was launched in 2021, and two science modules, Wentian, and Mengtian, which launched the subsequent year, in 2022. Compared to the International Space Station, Tiangong is relatively small. While the former has 16 modules, the latter has three.
The astronauts will be sent aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft
On each of the two crewed missions- Shenzhou 16 and Shenzhou 17, three astronauts will be sent aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft, which will take off on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. Usually, the identities of the astronauts are not revealed until the day before the launch of the mission.
The Tianzhou spacecraft will be launched before the crewed missions
Before the crewed missions, Tianzhou 6 will be sent to deliver supplies and propellant to Tiangong. It will take off on a Long March 7 rocket from Hainan Island. Tianzhou's manufacturer, the China Academy of Space Technology, has expanded the cargo capacity by about 500kg. This means that China will now have to launch three supply missions every two years, instead of four.
China's space authorities are seeking public suggestions
CMSA is also reaching out to the public to design patches for upcoming missions. China's space authorities have done this before. There were contests held to name spacecraft, including the Yutu lunar rover and Zhurong Mars rover.
Currently, the Shenzhou 15 crew is onboard Tiangong
Currently, onboard Tiangong is the Shenzhou 15 crew- Fen Junlong, Den Qingming, and Zhang Lu, who are almost mid-way through their six-month stay at the space station. The Shenzhou 15 crew will receive the Tianzhou 6 cargo spacecraft and Shenzhou 16, and will pass control over to the new crew. The outgoing astronauts will land at the Dongfeng landing area near Jiuquan.
