BEIJING: China’s Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft successfully reached the Tiangong Space Station, which orbits the Earth. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced the spacecraft docked at the rear port of the space station’s core module.
According to Anadolu Agency, the statement from CMSA indicated that astronauts aboard the station will enter the spacecraft and transfer supplies as planned. The spacecraft was launched Friday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Island using the Long March 7 Y9 rocket.
The resupply mission aims to meet the needs of the new crew of astronauts sent to the station on October 30. China has conducted previous resupply missions to the station, including Tianzhou-2 and Tianzhou-3 in 2021, Tianzhou-4 and Tianzhou-5 in 2022, and Tianzhou-6 in 2023 and Tianzhou-7 in January.
China established its orbital space station after being excluded from the International Space Station program, following a US ban on collaboration in space research. The Tiangong, or Heavenly Pa
lace, station comprises a core module and two laboratory modules, with plans to add a space telescope. It was modeled after Russia’s now-defunct Mir Space Station.