Beijing, Nov. 28 (BNA): China will launch the Shenzhou-15 spacecraft to its space station at 11:08 pm (15:08 GMT) on November 29, the China Manned Space Agency said Monday. State plan to complete the manned orbital station.
The agency said at a press conference that the three astronauts on board were Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu.
The space station will be delivered to them within a week by the three astronauts who arrived in early June.
“During the stay, the Shenzhou-15 crew will welcome the visiting Tianzhou-6 cargo ship and hand over the Shenzhou-16 manned spacecraft, and plan to return to China’s Dongfeng landing site in May next year,” said Ji Zhiming. Agency spokesperson.
“Currently, the space station cluster is in a stable condition with all equipment working fine, ready for rendezvous, docking and crew delivery,” Ji added.
In April 2021, China began construction of the three-module space station with the launch of the Tianhe module, the main living quarters for astronauts.
In July and November, it launched the two remaining laboratory units, Wentian and Mengtian, where scientific experiments will be carried out.
Completion of the space station, designed to last at least 10 years, would be a major milestone in China’s ambitions in low-Earth orbit, with NASA’s International Space Station likely to be decommissioned by the end of the decade.
SM