A third Tiangong space lab, capable of supporting three taikonauts for 40-day intervals, was planned but the program was later cancelled in favor of skipping to the development of a more advanced space station. China successfully de-orbited the Tiangong-2 in July 2019. This marked China’s longest crewed mission to date. Milestones in China’s Manned Space Programĭue to improvements in living quarters and life-support infrastructure, the module was able to host the two-man Shenzhou-11 crew for 30 days in late 2016. The Tiangong-2 featured a greater capacity for scientific experimentation and was therefore described by Wu Ping as a laboratory “ in the true sense of the word.” According to China’s 2016 white paper on space activities, the Tiangong-2 offered a platform for China to master key capabilities, such as cargo transport and replenishment, necessary for operating a permanent space station. China lost communication with the space module in March 2016, and on Apthe Tiangong-1 plunged through Earth’s atmosphere, scattering debris over the South Pacific.Ĭhinese engineers applied lessons from the Tiangong-1 to improve the design of its successor, the Tiangong-2, which launched in September 2016. The 8.5 metric ton Tiangong-1 launched in September 2011 and enabled Chinese astronauts – or “taikonauts” – to practice rendezvous and docking maneuvers and carry out short-term missions in space. Chief objectives of the multi-phase Project 921 include achieving human spaceflight and developing and operating what Wu Ping, then-Deputy Director of China’s Manned Space Agency (CMS), called a “ permanent” manned Chinese space station.Ĭhina formally launched its manned space program, known as Project 921, in September 1992.Ī critical aspect of Project 921 was the development of the Tiangong (“Heavenly Palace”) space laboratories that served as critical testbeds for gaining the technical know-how for operating the CSS. Yang orbited the Earth 14 times over a period of 21.5 hours.Ĭhina formally launched its manned space program, known as Project 921, in September 1992. Yang Liwei into Earth’s orbit on the Shenzhou-5 (“Divine Ship-5”). ![]() Four decades later, China joined this elite group with the 2003 launch of Lt. The former Soviet Union and the United States achieved human spaceflight in 1961 against the backdrop of the Cold War space race. Only three of these states have independently sent humans into space. ![]() More than 80 countries have space programs that engage in activities ranging from the development of dual-use satellites to lunar exploration.
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