China prepares for mission to Tiangong space station to stock up and prepare for first crew handover in orbit

Name: China launches Mengtian, final module to complete Tiangong space station
Uploaded: 2022-11-11T11:16:06.000Z
Duration: 1 min 1 s
Description: China launches Mengtian, final module to complete Tiangong space station

Unmanned Tianzhou 5 cargo spacecraft will deliver tonnes of supplies for a new team of three astronauts who are expected to arrive within weeks

It will also carry 10 CubeSats and experiments into orbit as part of mission

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The Tianzhou 5 cargo spacecraft and a Long March 7 Y6 carrier rocket are transferred to the launch area in Hainan province, southern China, on Wednesday. Photo: Xinhua

Ling Xinin Beijing

Published: 7:16pm, 11 Nov 2022Updated: 8:50pm, 11 Nov 2022

China is ready to launch its next mission to the Tiangong space station, setting the stage for another historic moment in the country’s manned space programme: the first crew handover in orbit.

The unmanned Tianzhou 5 cargo spacecraft, which is awaiting lift-off from southern China’s Hainan island on Saturday morning, will deliver tonnes of supplies for a new team of three astronauts. The new crew, who have not been named yet, will join the trio currently working on board Tiangong – Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe – as early as the end of this month.

The six Chinese astronauts will live and work together on the newly completed station before the Shenzhou 14 crew members head home in December, marking the first time one Tiangong crew hands over to the next while in orbit. There are seven astronauts living and working on the International Space Station at present.

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China launches Mengtian, final module to complete Tiangong space station

“Tianzhou 5 is carrying gifts which the two crews will exchange when they meet,” Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday.

The Shenzhou 15 crew members are expected to stay on Tiangong for six months and to celebrate the Lunar New Year while in space, including unpacking gifts delivered on Tianzhou 5, according to CCTV.

The 13.5-tonne Tianzhou 5 is now tucked inside a Long March 7 rocket, slated to blast off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Site around 10am on Saturday.

Zhong Wenan, chief engineer of the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre which operates the Wenchang centre, said there had been an extensive final rehearsal for the launch, according to Xinhua.

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