China gets ready to send second crew to space station for longer mission

Shenzhou 13 spacecraft is expected to be launched from the Gobi Desert in the early hours of October 16, according to sources

The three astronauts on board will include a woman – 41-year-old Wang Yaping – and they will spend six months at Tiangong

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The Shenzhou 13 spacecraft and a Long March 2F Y13 carrier rocket are prepared for transfer to the Jiuquan launch site in northern China on Thursday. The launch is expected on October 16, according to sources. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:00pm, 7 Oct 2021Updated: 6:04pm, 15 Oct 2021

China is expected to send a second crew into orbit next week to continue assembling its Tiangong space station, with a female astronaut among them, according to sources.

They will travel in the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft, which is set to blast off from the Gobi Desert in northern China in the early hours of October 16, two sources familiar with the manned space programme said.

The mission had been delayed to allow more time to prepare, one of the sources said earlier, and will now take place about a month after the first crew returned to Earth from a 90-day stay aboard the new space station.

The next crew of three astronauts will include a woman – 41-year-old Wang Yaping – and they will spend six months at Tiangong, the sources said.

Astronaut Wang Yaping will be part of the next mission to the space station, according to a source. Photo: Xinhua

On Thursday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said the Shenzhou 13, mounted on a Long March 2F Y13 carrier rocket, had been transferred to the Jiuquan launch centre in Inner Mongolia.