Wikipedia

Tiangong space station

Chinese space station in low Earth orbit

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.

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.)

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

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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

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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

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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

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As late as 2024, 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[8] Tianhe Long March 5B Wenchang LC-1[9] CASC N/A

Scheduled

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All dates are UTC and may change.

Launch date (NET) Spacecraft Launch vehicle Launch pad Launching by Where it will dock at the station
20 May 2021[10] Tianzhou 2 Long March 7 Wenchang LC-2 CASC Tianhe aft
10 June 2021[11] Shenzhou 12 Long March 2F Jiuquan SLS-1 CASC Tianhe forward
September 2021[12] Tianzhou 3 Long March 7 Wenchang LC-2 CASC Tianhe aft
October 2021[13] Shenzhou 13 Long March 2F Jiuquan SLS-1 CASC Tianhe forward
March–April 2022[14] Tianzhou 4 Long March 7 Wenchang LC-2 CASC Tianhe aft
May 2022[15] Shenzhou 14 Long March 2F Jiuquan SLS-1 CASC Tianhe forward
May–June 2022[16] Wentian Long March 5B Wenchang LC-1 CASC Tianhe
August–September 2022[17] Mengtian Long March 5B Wenchang LC-1 CASC Tianhe
October 2022[18] Tianzhou 5 Long March 7 Wenchang LC-2 CASC Tianhe aft
November 2022[19] Shenzhou 15 Long March 2F Jiuquan SLS-1 CASC Tianhe

Other information

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It will be made up of several modules (parts) that need to be put together in space. The first module is called Tianhe.[20] It was launched on 28 April 2021.[8] It will take about 11 total launches to build the station.[7]

References

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  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. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Xin, Ling. "China Is Set to Launch First Module of Massive Space Station". Scientific American. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 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.
  9. ↑ Hunt, Katie (29 April 2021). "ISS gets a rival with China's planned space station". CNN. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  10. ↑ Barbosa, Rui C. (1 March 2021). "China preparing to build Tiangong station in 2021, complete by 2022". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "长征二号F/G Y12 • 神舟十二号载人飞船 • LongMarch 2F/G Y12 • Shenzhou-12". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "【2021年9月待定】长征七号 • 天舟三号货运飞船 • LongMarch 7 Y4 • Tianzhou-3". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  13. ↑ "长征二号F/G Y13 • 神舟十三号载人飞船 • LongMarch 2F/G Y13 • Shenzhou-13". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  14. ↑ "【2022年3月04日待定】长征七号 • 天舟四号货运飞船 • LongMarch 7 Y5 • Tianzhou-4". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  15. ↑ "长征二号F • 神舟十四号载人飞船（2022年待定）" [Long March 2F • Shenzhou-14 (2022 TBD)]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "【22年待定】长征五号乙遥三火箭 • 中国空间站实验舱——问天 • LongMarch-5B Y3" [[2022 TBD] Long March 5B Y3 rocket • Chinese Space Station Laboratory Module—Wentian]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  17. ↑ "【22年待定】长征五号乙遥四火箭 • 中国空间站实验舱——梦天 • LongMarch-5B Y4" [[2022 TBD] Long March 5B Y4 rocket • Chinese Space Station Laboratory Module—Mengtian]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "【2022年10月待定】长征七号 • 天舟五号货运飞船 • LongMarch 7 Y6 • Tianzhou-5". spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  19. ↑ "长征二号F • 神舟十五号载人飞船（2022年待定）" [Long March 2F • Shenzhou-15 (2022 TBD)]. spaceflightfans.cn (in Chinese). 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  20. ↑ "Tianhe, the Core of the Chinese Space Station". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

Other websites

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chinese space stations.
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