China Sends Three Astronauts to Tiangong Space Station on Shenzhou 19 Mission

A Chinese craft has sent three people, including the country’s first female space engineer, to the Tiangong Space Station, with a successful journey taking around 6.5 hours to complete. At the Tiangong space station, the Shenzhou 19 crew met with three other astronauts who are manning the Shenzhou 18 and will return to Earth on 4 November.

Shenzhou-19 Crew Launches to Tiangong Space Station

A Long March 2F rocket with the Shenzhou 19 crew spacecraft launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 30th October. The craft carried Cai Xuzhe, 48, an experienced member of the Shenzhou 14 mission, along with younger astronauts Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, both 34.

The crew’s task involves using the homegrown space station to carry out spacewalks and gather experience and intelligence. The ultimate goal of the Chinese mission is to put astronauts on the Moon by 2030, and these young astronauts could be candidates.

The mission commander Cai has already spent 182 days in space on his previous trip.

“My two new teammates were both born in the 1990s. Although there is an age difference between us, we share the same goal: to serve our country and win honour for it while working and striving together,” Cai said during a press conference on the day before launch.

Wang Haoze also spoke about the mission ahead in a press conference: “During the mission, we will undertake arduous tasks in space science experiments and space station management. I am mainly responsible for space experiment projects, material management, and station operation.”

A Successful Launch

Successful launches are becoming commonplace in China, as it tries to reach 100 launches this year and outdo the United States in the process.

People lined the streets for the launch which looked spectacular over the Gobi desert. The three other astronauts currently manning the Shenzhou 18 will return on 4th November.

Just two years ago, President Xi Jinping declared that “to explore the vast cosmos, develop the space industry and build China into a space power is our eternal dream”.

Shenzhou 19 is China’s eighth crewed mission that has ascended to the Tiangong space station. This is a three-module, T-shaped orbital outpost and was constructed across 2021 and 2022 using Long March 5B launches.

Tiangong will remain in place for at least a decade. The station is 20% of the size of the ISS and will be permanently occupied. There is also the option for them to add more modules as the station has been built to be expanded.