Shenzhou 11 – Spaceflight Now

Two Chinese astronauts back on Earth

November 18, 2016

Two Chinese astronauts closed out a month in space Friday with a parachute-assisted landing in northern China’s remote Inner Mongolia territory, a day after the crew departed the Tiangong 2 space lab to begin the trip home.

Chinese astronauts halfway through country’s longest space mission

October 31, 2016

Two Chinese astronauts are busy with medical experiments and other duties as they near the halfway mark of a month-long stay aboard the Tiangong 2 space lab, according to state media reports.

Chinese space lab deploys compact satellite for external surveys

October 26, 2016

A companion satellite ejected from China’s orbiting Tiangong 2 research module has snapped unique views of the space lab as two astronauts inside press on with experiments and other tasks in their second week aboard the mini-space station.

Shenzhou 11 glides to orbital link-up with Chinese space lab

October 18, 2016

Two days after blasting off on a Long March rocket, a Shenzhou spaceship carrying two Chinese astronauts linked up with China’s Tiangong 2 space lab nearly 250 miles above Earth Tuesday to begin a one-month stay inside the mini-station.

Chinese astronauts launch on month-long space mission

October 17, 2016

Two Chinese military pilots rode a Long March 2F rocket into orbit Sunday, heading for the Tiangong 2 research lab to conduct experiments and practice procedures to be used on China’s future space station.

Key events during Shenzhou 11’s ascent to orbit

October 16, 2016

It will take less than 10 minutes for a Long March 2F rocket to send two astronauts inside the Shenzhou 11 space capsule on course toward a docking with China’s Tiangong 2 space lab.

Live coverage: Chinese space capsule docks with Tiangong 2

October 16, 2016

Soaring more than 200 miles above Earth, a Chinese spacecraft with two astronauts on-board closed in for docking with the Tiangong 2 space lab just before 1930 GMT (3:30 p.m. EDT).

Chinese spacecraft poised for launch with two astronauts

October 16, 2016

China is gearing up to launch two astronauts on a month-long expedition to the country’s new orbiting space lab module Sunday.

China’s Tiangong 2 space lab successfully blasts off

September 15, 2016

The next stepping stone in China’s human spaceflight program launched Thursday, delivering a destination and living quarters to orbit for two astronauts preparing for liftoff next month on a planned 33-day expedition, the country’s longest space mission to date.

China readies launch of space station pathfinder mission

September 14, 2016

China is scheduled to launch a human-rated spacecraft the size of a bus Thursday, paving the way for a month-long visit by two astronauts in October and nudging the country’s space program closer to building a large research complex in orbit by the early 2020s.