The three astronauts are to take off from the “Jiuquan” space station in the Gobi desert and stay on board the new station for three months.
The start is planned for Thursday.
Beijing - China wants to send a spaceship with three astronauts to its space station under construction for the first time on Thursday morning (May 17th, 2021).
Module of the “Tiangong” space station in space since the beginning of May
The Chinese space agency announced at a press conference that the launch is scheduled for 9.22 a.m. (3.22 a.m. CET).
The Chinese astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo are part of the mission.
The first module of the “Tiangong” space station, which should be ready by the end of 2022, was sent into space at the beginning of May.
Another cargo flight with material and fuel followed at the end of May.
Chinese astronauts take off from Jiuquan space station
The astronauts are to take off from the “Jiuquan” space station in the Gobi desert and stay on board the core module of the new station for three months.
The flight program is tightly timed: Another supply flight is scheduled to start in September.
Three more astronauts will follow in October.
To finish building the space station, two more laboratory modules, each weighing a good 20 tons, will be brought into space. Two more cargo flights and two manned missions are planned for the next year. If the international space station ISS ceases its service as planned in the next few years, China would be the only country that still operates a permanent outpost in space. (dpa)