Artist impression of the Tiangong 1 Space Laboratory in orbit (Credit: CMSA)
China’s second Space Laboratory Tiangong 2 will be launched into orbit in the third quarter of 2016, followed by a manned flight mission Shenzhou 11 in the fourth quarter and a cargo resupply mission Tianzhou 1 in the first half of 2017, according to Chinese state media.
Four Missions Planned
Citing a spokesperson of the China Manned Space Programme (CMSP), the report confirmed that the four separate launches, one manned and three unmanned, have been planned for the Tiangong 2 programme.
As the first step, a test launch of the brand new Chang Zheng-7 (CZ-7, or Long March-7) rocket launcher will be conducted from the newly constructed Wenchang Space Launch Centre in June to validate the launcher’s design.
The second mission will see the launch of the Tiangong 2 Space Laboratory module atop a Chang Zheng-2F (CZ-2F) rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Q3 of 2016.
This is to be followed by a manned mission Shenzhou 11 with a crew of two astronauts in Q4 of 2016, also atop a CZ-2F rocket from Jiuquan, to visit the Space Laboratory module.
The final mission, scheduled for the first half of 2017, will involve the launch of an unmanned cargo resupply ship Tianzhou 1 atop a CZ-7 launcher from Wenchang. The cargo ship will dock with Tiangong 2 to perform the transfer of both life supplies (‘dry goods’) and propellants (‘wet goods’) to the Space Laboratory module.
CZ-2F rocket launchers for the Tiangong 2 and Shenzhou 11 missions on the assembly line (Credit: CASC)
Project 921-II Completion
China embarked on a manned space programme in 1992. The programme, codenamed Project 921, was to be carried out in three phases, with the objective to finally construct a permanently-manned space station in Low Earth Orbit around 2020.
The first phase of the programme (Project 92-I), which was implemented between 1992 and 2005, saw the development of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft and the launch of six Shenzhou flight missions, four unmanned and two manned.
The second phase of the programme (Project 921-II), which began in 2008, was aimed to develop advanced space flight techniques and technologies including extra-vehicular activity (EVA) and orbital rendezvous docking. This phase of the programme also includes the launch of two Space Laboratories—temporarily man-tended mini space station modules that can receive visiting crews on a temporary basis.
The first Space Laboratory, Tiangong 1, was launched in September 2011. The space module has since then been visited by three Shenzhou missions, one unmanned and two manned between 2011 and 2013. The Chinese media report described Tiangong 1 to be currently “in good working condition”, four and a half years since its launch.
The end of Tiangong 2 missions will also conclude the second phase of Project 921. By then, China will have grasped all the technologies and techniques required for building a permanently-manned Earth-orbiting space station in the third and final phase of Project 921, which is scheduled to be implemented around 2020.
Tiangong 2
Although so far no technical detail of Tiangong 2 has been revealed, the space module is expected to be similar to its predecessor Tiangong 1 in size and design. The Chinese media report confirmed the objectives of Tiangong 2 to be verifying “key technologies including cargo transportation, on-orbit propellant resupply, astronauts’ medium-term stay”, as well as conducting “space science and application experiments on a relatively large scale”.
The wording suggests that Tiangong 2 will be equipped with a more capable life support system than that of Tiangong 1, which did not have an oxygen generator and only carried a primitive experimental water recycling system for testing.
Shenzhou 11 crew in training at the Astronaut Centre of China (Credit: Chinese social media)
Interestingly, the Chinese media report confirmed that the Shenzhou 11 mission will have a crew of only two astronauts, as opposed to the three-person crews in the previous two manned flight missions to visit Tiangong 1 in 2012 and 2013. Given that no further manned mission to Tiangong 2 has been planned, the duration of the Shenzhou 11 mission is expected to be much longer than that of the previous two manned missions, possible around 60—90 days.
The Chinese media report confirmed that the two CZ-2F launchers, the CZ-7 launcher, Tiangong 2, Shenzhou 11, and Tianzhou 1 are all “being assembled or undergoing assembly examination”. It also confirmed that the country is on track to complete the construction of its first permanently-manned space station around 2020.
