The Shenzhou XIV mission—China's ninth manned spaceflight was launched successfully on Sunday morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gobi Desert.
three crew members – Senior Colonel Chen Dong, Senior Colonel Liu Yang and Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe—will stay in the Tiangong space station for half a year.
Before them the Shenzhou XII and XIII three-member crews lived inside the Tiangong, is traveling in low-Earth orbit about 400 kilometers high.
In early May, the Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft was launched by a Long March 7 rocket from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, (transport) nearly 6 metric tons of propellants and materials to Tiangong.
Tiangong consists of the Tianhe core module, the Tianzhou 3 and the Tianzhou 4.
In July, the station's first lab component—Wentian, or Quest for the Heavens – will be launched, while the second lab (name) Mengtian, or Dreaming of the Heavens, will be sent to dock with the station in October. After they are connected with the Tiangong, the station will form a T-shaped structure.
The Tiangong is expected (operate) for up to 15 years and will serve as a scientific platform, space officials have said, noting it will also be open to foreign astronauts.
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