News Asia
China Will launch the Shenzhou-15 Spacecraft to its Space Station today
(CTN News) – The Shenzhou-15 spacecraft will launch at the Chinese space station on November 29 at 11:08 p.m. (1508 GMT), the China Manned Space Agency said on Monday.
This is the last mission in China’s ambition to complete the crewed orbiting outpost. Three male astronauts, Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu, will be aboard, the agency said during a press briefing.
The three astronauts who arrived in early June will deliver the space station to them in a week.
According to Ji Qiming, a spokeswoman for the agency, “during the stay, the Shenzhou-15 crew will greet the arriving Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft and hand over the Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship, and are intending to return to China’s Dongfeng landing site in May next year.”
According to Ji, “the space station combination is now in a stable state with all equipment operating properly and is prepared for the crew handover, docking, and rendezvous.”
Chinese started building the three-module space station in April 2021 with the launch of the Tianhe module, which houses the crew’ primary living room.
The last two laboratory modules, Wentian and Mengtian, where scientific investigations will be conducted, were inaugurated in July and November, respectively.
As NASA’s ISS is becoming older and may cease operations by the end of the decade, China’s plans for low-earth orbit will reach a turning point with the construction of the space station, which is planned to last at least 10 years.
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