August 23, 2025
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Tiangong

Mission Reports

First element of Chinese space station ready for liftoff

April 28, 2021 Stephen Clark

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, experiments, and new laboratory modules to build out the orbiting complex before the end of 2022.

Mission Reports

Chinese space station testbed ends mission with controlled re-entry

July 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

A prototype space lab module for China’s planned space station re-entered the atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean Friday to end a nearly three-year mission that included a visit from Chinese astronauts and an in-orbit refueling demonstration.

Mission Reports

China set to deorbit disused Tiangong 2 space lab

July 16, 2019 Stephen Clark

China’s Tiangong 2 space lab, a precursor to the country’s planned space station, is scheduled to fall out of orbit Friday and plunge back into Earth’s atmosphere for a destructive re-entry.

Mission Reports

Chinese space lab burns up on re-entry over Pacific Ocean

April 2, 2018 Stephen Clark

China’s Tiangong 1 space lab, home to two astronaut crews in 2012 and 2013, fell back to Earth uncontrolled Sunday, likely burning up over the Pacific Ocean as satellite trackers monitored the module’s gradual descent from orbit.

Mission Reports

Chinese space station freighter concludes refueling demo mission

September 17, 2017 Stephen Clark

China’s Tianzhou 1 freighter, a pathfinder for regular resupply and refueling trips to the country’s planned space station, wrapped up a series of successful propellant transfer tests with the orbiting Tiangong 2 space lab Saturday and detached from the module for more standalone experiments and a destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

Mission Reports

Tianzhou 1 freighter achieves China’s first in-space refueling demo

April 27, 2017 Stephen Clark

The robotic Tianzhou 1 refueling freighter launched last week has successfully completed the first in-orbit propellant transfer with China’s Tiangong 2 space lab, a major accomplishment as the country’s engineers hope to finish assembly of a large space station by 2022, officials said Thursday.

News

First supply ship for Chinese space station lifts off on test flight

April 20, 2017 Stephen Clark

A Long March 7 rocket lifted off Thursday with Tianzhou 1, an unpiloted refueling freighter heading for China’s Tiangong 2 mini-space station to conduct several months of robotic demonstrations, practicing for the assembly and maintenance of a future permanently-staffed orbital research complex.

News

Chinese astronauts halfway through country’s longest space mission

October 31, 2016 Stephen Clark

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.

News

Chinese space lab deploys compact satellite for external surveys

October 26, 2016 Stephen Clark

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.

News

China to launch new space lab later this year

March 3, 2016 Stephen Clark

China plans to launch a new human-rated space laboratory as soon as July and send two astronauts to visit the mini-space station by end of the year.

Posts pagination

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News Headlines

  • SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB
    August 22, 2025
  • SpaceX launches Space Force’s X-37B spaceplane to demo laser communications, quantum navigation
    August 22, 2025
  • Launch preview: SpaceX to launch X-37B military spaceplane on Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center
    August 20, 2025
  • Firefly Aerospace explores launching its Alpha rocket from Japan
    August 20, 2025
  • SpaceX flies 24 Starlink satellites on its 100th Falcon 9 rocket launch of 2025
    August 17, 2025
  • SpaceX schedules 10th test flight for Starship, details recent setbacks
    August 16, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
    August 14, 2025
  • ULA launches Vulcan rocket on first Space Force mission
    August 13, 2025
  • Launch preview: ULA to launch first national security mission on a Vulcan rocket
    August 12, 2025
  • SpaceX launches Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites on fifth scheduled attempt
    August 10, 2025
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