Tianzhou 1 – Spaceflight Now

China’s space station plan bolstered by year of successes

April 29, 2017

A series of achievements in China’s space program over the last 12 months have set the stage to start construction of the country’s first space station in 2019, a year later than previously scheduled, officials said Friday.

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

April 27, 2017

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.

China’s Tianzhou 1 cargo carrier docks with space lab in orbit

April 22, 2017

Less than two days after launching from southern China, the Tianzhou 1 supply ship glided to an automated linkup with the Chinese Tiangong 2 space laboratory around 240 miles above Earth on Saturday, ready for several months of technical demonstrations to prepare for assembly of a space station in the next few years.

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

April 20, 2017

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.

China’s first robotic resupply freighter transferred to launch pad

April 17, 2017

Chinese engineers rolled out a Long March 7 rocket to a seaside launch complex on Hainan Island in the South China Sea on Monday, aiming to fire a robotic refueling freighter into orbit as soon as Thursday to test technology for China’s future space station.