China launched three astronauts to replace crew on its space station

Context

China launched three astronauts aboard Shenzhou-20 spaceship to the Tiangong space station for a six-month mission, replacing the current crew.

• The mission supports China’s lunar and Mars ambitions, with astronauts conducting science experiments and maintenance tasks on the fully Chinese-built station.

Tiangong Space Station

• Tiangong (Chinese for "Heavenly Palace") is a modular space station being constructed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

• It is the first space station built by China.

• Tiangong is currently in low Earth orbit (LEO), and it is expected to be operational until 2028.

• It is a three-module space station. The core module, Tianhe, launched in April 2021, followed by the Wentian and Mengtian experiment modules in 2022.

• Tiangong is significantly smaller and lighter than the International Space Station (ISS), with only three modules compared to the ISS's 16 modules

• The new space station is planned to share its orbit with the Xuntian space telescope to allow astronauts to easily repair and upgrade the telescope.

• China is only the third country to have put both astronauts into space and build a space station, after the Soviet Union (now Russia) and the US.

International Space Station (ISS)

• The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest man-made object in space launched on November 20, 1998. It serves as a habitat for astronauts in space. Since 2011, the ISS has been continuously inhabited.

• Participating States: ISS is a collaborative project of the United States (NASA), Russia’s (Roscosmos), Europe’s (ESA), Japan’s (JAXA), and Canada’s (CSA) space agencies.

• Orbit: The International Space Station is in orbit about 400 kilometres above Earth.

• Speed: It travels around Earth at a speed of about 28,000 kilometres per hour. This means that it orbits Earth about every 90 minutes.

• Objectives: To expand our knowledge about space and microgravity and promote new scientific research. It also serves as an example of international cooperation.