Tiangong space station

Tiangong space station
A drawing of the Chinese Space Station
A drawing of the Chinese Space Station
Station statistics
Picture of the Chinese Space Station. (The picture was taken from Brazil.)

The Tiangong space station is a space station in Low Earth orbit.[1] The space station belongs to China's space program. As of 2024, the space station has astronauts.

Distance from Earth: "Tiangong orbits Earth at an altitude of around" ... "340 to 450 kilometers", according to media (2023).[2]

It is the third station by China, after Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2.

Tiangong means sky palace.

Structure

The main parts of the station are shown in the diagram below.

Solar arraySolar array
Solar arraySolar arrayDocking portSolar arraySolar array
Wentian
laboratory		Tianhe
service module		Mengtian
laboratory
Solar arrayEVA hatchDocking portDocking portSolar array

[3]

Use

China plans to do a number of experiments on the station.[4] Other nations will also use the space station. These include Italy which has made a long-term agreement with China to work together on spaceflight.[5][6] The University of Oslo in Norway is going to use the station for cancer research.[7]

Missions

There are astronauts at the space station (as of 2025's fourth quarter). The Shenzhou 21 mission, has 3 astronauts(or taikonauts) at the space station; However, the astronauts do not yet have a rocket that is safe for travel back to Earth (November 2025).[8][9]

Key
  Spacecraft that carry cargo are in light blue color
  Spacecraft that carry people are in light green color
  Parts of the space station are in beige color

Past

There have been spaceflights to and from the space station.

Launch date Spacecraft Launch vehicle Launch pad Launched by Where it docked at the station
28 April 2021[10] Tianhe Long March 5B Wenchang LC-1[11] CASC N/A


Other information

It will be made up of several modules (parts) that need to be put together in space. The first module is called Tianhe.[12] It was launched on 28 April 2021.[10][7]

References

  1. ↑ Clark, Steephen. "China to begin construction of space station this year". spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  2. ↑ https://www.space.com/how-to-see-track-chinese-space-station-tiangong#:~:text=Tiangong%20orbits%20Earth%20at%20an,(27%2C600%20km%2Fh). Retrieved 2024-06-04
  3. ↑ Barbosa, Rui (1 March 2021). "China preparing to build Tiangong station in 2021, complete by 2022". NASASpaceflight. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  4. ↑ "China Manned Space Programme: Its Achievements and Future Developments (PDF by China Manned Space Agency)" (PDF). United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "China and Italy to cooperate on long-term human spaceflight". 2017-02-22. Archived from the original on 2018-02-16. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  6. ↑ "Agreement Italy-China". 2017-02-22. Archived from the original on 2018-12-02. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  7. 1 2 Xin, Ling. "China Is Set to Launch First Module of Massive Space Station". Scientific American. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  8. ↑ https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/watch-chinas-shenzhou-22-rescue-ship-arrive-at-tiangong-space-station-video. Retrieved 2025-11-30
  9. ↑ https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/chinas-shenzhou-20-return-mission-delayed-due-space-debris-impact-rcna242050
  10. 1 2 Graham, William; Gebhardt, Chris (28 April 2021). "China launches Tianhe module, start of ambitious two-year station construction effort". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  11. ↑ Hunt, Katie (29 April 2021). "ISS gets a rival with China's planned space station". CNN. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "Tianhe, the Core of the Chinese Space Station". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

Other websites

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