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On Sunday, China will launch a spaceship carrying three astronauts to the unfinished Chinese space station’s core module, where they will work and reside for six months as the station’s construction progresses.
A Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft is scheduled to launch from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu’s northwest province at 10:44 a.m. local time (0244 GMT) on Sunday, according to a China Manned Space Agency official.
On Shenzhou, which means “Divine Vessel” in Chinese, mission commander Chen Dong will be joined by Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe.
“All launch preparations are practically complete,” said Lin Xiqiang, an agency official.
Shenzhou-14 will be the third of four crewed flights – and the seventh of a total of 11 – required to finish the space station by the end of the year.
With the launch of Tianhe, the first and largest of the station’s three modules, China began construction on its three-module space station in April 2021.
Once the T-shaped space station is built, Tianhe, which is about the size of a metro bus, will serve as the living quarters for visiting astronauts.
The last two modules, the laboratory cabins Wentian and Mengtian, will be launched in July and October, respectively, after Shenzhou-14.
Wentian will have a robotic arm, an airlock cabin for travels outside of the station, and additional living accommodations for three astronauts during crew rotations.
The Shenzhou-14 crew will assist with the installation of Wentian and Mengtian, as well as perform functional testing on both modules.
The space station is expected to last a decade. It will be somewhat heavier than Russia’s decommissioned Mir, weighing 180 tonnes, and around 20% of the mass of the International Space Station.
