Tag: Tianhe
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China Taps Commercial Launchers for Space Station Cargo
Which commercial launchers will serve China’s space station cargo missions? China has shortlisted four commercial rocket companies to launch a new low-cost cargo transport system for its Tianhe space station, marking a significant shift toward leveraging private sector capabilities for critical national infrastructure. The selection represents Beijing’s most direct integration of commercial launch providers into…
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Wang Yaping becomes the first Chinese woman to walk in space
On November 7, Chinese taikonauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping conducted the first spacewalk for the Shenzhou-13 mission at the Chinese Space Station. The extravehicular activity (EVA) was the first for a Chinese woman and successfully installed new hardware on the exterior of the Tianhe core module. The extravehicular activity began when Wang Yaping and…
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Tianzhou-3 cargo craft launches to the Chinese Space Station
China successfully launched a Long March 7 from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 07:10 UTC (3:10 PM Beijing time), beginning its journey to the Chinese Space Station. The spacecraft then docked to the station just under seven hours later. This launch of the Tianzhou-3 spacecraft comes days after the successful return of the Shenzhou-12…
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Chinese Space Station taikonauts conduct second spacewalk
The crew of Shenzhou-12 has conducted the second spacewalk of the mission, and the second spacewalk of the new Chinese Space Station’s lifetime. The extravehicular activity (EVA) comes two months into their planned 90-day mission in low Earth orbit. Mission commander Nie Haisheng and first operator Liu Boming exited the Tianhe core module at 00:38…
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Taikonauts complete second Chinese spacewalk, first in support of Space Station construction
Taikonauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo have successfully conducted the second ever Chinese Extravehicular Activity (EVA), or spacewalk, and the first in a series to support of the construction of the newly launched Chinese Space Station (CSS). The EVA began on July 4 at 00:11 UTC and completed at 06:57 UTC, for a total duration…
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Assembly of Chinese space station begins with successful core module launch
A Chinese Long March 5B rocket lifts off with the Tianhe space station core module. Credit: Xinhua Chinese officials confirmed the successful launch of the first element of the country’s space station early Thursday, laying the keystone to a permanently-inhabited orbiting habitat that could welcome its first astronauts this summer. The liftoff of the Tianhe…
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China launches Tianhe module, start of ambitious two-year station construction effort
China launched a Chang Zheng 5B rocket with the Tianhe station core module to low Earth orbit, marking the start of an ambitious two year construction effort of the nation’s new multi-module space station. Liftoff of the historic mission occurred at 23:23 EDT on Wednesday, 28 April — which was 03:23 UTC on Thursday, 29…
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First element of Chinese space station ready for liftoff
The core module of China’s space station undergoes a vacuum test to simulate the conditions it will see in orbit. The core module of China’s space station is packaged inside the nose cone of a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket for liftoff late Wednesday (U.S. time), the first of 11 launches to deliver astronauts, supplies,…