Why hasn’t China sent astronauts into space for three years?

China’s next space station might not be complete until 2024, but some say a failed 2017 rocket launch has contributed to delays

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Chinese astronauts Wang Yaping, Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang (left to right) before boarding the Shenzhou 10 spaceflight in June 2013. (Picture: AP)

Published: 10:00am, 5 Nov 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Since China became the third country to independently put people into space in 2003, the country has put 11 Chinese astronauts, sometimes called taikonauts, into orbit. They have walked in space, docked their spacecraft with a space station, and two stayed in a space station for more than a month.

But for people who have gotten used to non-stop good news about China’s space program development, it seems like things have been quiet for a while. Some blame a failed rocket launch in 2017, but others say China simply has no reason to move fast because future space station modules aren’t ready for launch.

The last time China sent astronauts into space was in 2016. Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong spent 33 days in China’s Tiangong-2 space lab three years ago and safely returned, setting a new record for China’s manned space missions.

Since then, China made history by being the first country to land a probe on the far side of the moon, but there’s been no breakthrough in China’s manned space program.

On China’s Q&A site Zhihu, a question posted in June this year asking why China’s manned space program has slowed down has drawn 183 posts and more than 3 million views.