BEIJING, Nov 28 – The Shenzhou-15 spacecraft will launch at the Chinese space station on November 29 at 11:08 p.m. (1508 GMT)
The China Manned Space Agency announced on Monday. This is the last mission in China’s plan to complete the crewed orbital outpost. Three male astronauts, Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu, will be aboard, the agency announced at a press conference.
In a week, the space station will be delivered to them by the three astronauts who arrived in early June. The Shenzhou-15 crew will welcome the Tianzhou-6 cargo ship during their stay, hand over the Shenzhou-16 manned spacecraft, and then plan to return to the Country’s Dongfeng landing site in May of the following year, according to Ji Qiming, a spokesperson for the agency.
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According to Ji, “the space station combination is currently in stable status with all equipment operating well and is prepared for the crew handover, docking, and rendezvous.” China started building the three-module space station in April 2021 with the launch of the Tianhe module, which houses the astronauts’ primary living space.
The final two laboratory modules, Wentian and Mengtian, where scientific experiments will be conducted, were launched in July and November respectively. As NASA’s ISS is getting older and may cease operations by the end of the decade, China’s plans for low-earth orbit will reach a turning point with the completion of the space station, which is planned to last at least 10 years.
