HAIKOU/TASS: South China’s Hainan Province again secured a successful launch to China’s orbital station. The Tianzhou-7 cargo ship delivered fuel, equipment and supplies to the taikonauts, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said.
The launch was carried out on January 17 at 22:27 Beijing time from Wenchang Space Center (east coast of the island) using a Changzheng-7 (CZ-7). It was the 14th mission for such a new-generation launch vehicle.
Tianzhou-7 is an automated space truck weighing 13 tonnes. It consists of two modules: the service module (it contains the propulsion system, power system and equipment for the ship’s operation) and the cargo module (a sealed bunker with a volume of 15 cubic meters).
The CZ-7 is a liquid-fueled, two-stage rocket with a 4.2-meter diameter fairing. It reaches a length of 53.1 meters and is capable of launching 13.5 tonnes of cargo into low Earth orbit.
Chinese space station
Crew commander Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Forces, and Lieutenant Colonels Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin of the PLA Air Force are in orbit. The average age of the taikonauts is 38.6 years, all of whom are members of the Communist Party of China.
The team conducts scientific experiments and payload tests in orbit. It collects operational data, performs tasks to improve the efficiency of the station and strengthens coordination in interaction with the ground support centre.
The Chinese station is located at an altitude of approximately 400 kilometres and will be in service for more than 10 years. It is designed for three people (up to six for short periods when crews rotate). The mass of the T-shaped complex (expansion to a cruciform shape is planned), which has three docking nodes and a spacewalk airlock, is 66 tonnes, and the volume of the compartments reaches 110 cubic meters. The facility has been available for international projects since 2022.
Spaceport in Hainan
The Wenchang launch site is one of China’s four spaceports, the only place in the country where technical conditions allow the launch of the CZ-7A (“Changzheng-7-a”), the longest (60.7 m) nationally developed rocket. The other new-generation carriers that only Hainan is capable of launching in China are the commercial CZ-8, as well as the CZ-5 and CZ-5B. They are the heaviest (870 and 837.5 tonnes respectively) of all Chinese counterparts. The spaceport has also become a popular attraction bringing in millions of tourists. They generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year.
Seven Tianzhou space trucks, the main unit of China’s Tianhe orbital station, its laboratory modules Wentian and Mengtian, the Tianwen-1 Mars probe, and the Chang’e-5 unmanned lunar exploration vehicle were launched from the provincial spaceport. In addition, thanks to Wenchang, China has put many satellites into orbit.
