A Long March rocket with a Shenzhou-19 spacecraft atop takes off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China in the early hours of Wednesday (October 30, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

China on Wednesday (October 30, 2024) successfully launched its spaceship sending three astronauts, including the country’s first female space engineer on a six months’ mission to fine tune its low orbiting space station.

The Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship was launched by a Long March-2F carrier rocket, early Wednesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China. About 10 minutes after the launch, the Shenzhou-19 spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit.

The crew members are in good shape and the launch is a complete success, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced.

The spaceship will perform a fast, automated rendezvous and docking with the front port of the space station core module Tianhe in about 6.5 hours, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

China built its space station after it was reportedly excluded from the International Space Station (ISS) over concerns that China’s space programme is manned by its military, the People’s Liberation Army, (PLA).

It is currently the only country to have a space station.

The ISS is a collaborative project of several countries. Observers say China’s space station may become the only one of its kind in orbit once the ISS retires in the coming years.

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The two robotic arms of the station, especially the long one which has the ability to grab objects including satellites from space, drew international concerns.

Early this month China announced its plans for the further development of space programmes which included launching a manned lunar mission, construction of a lunar space station, exploration of habitable planets and extra-terrestrial life to expand its space programme in the next few decades.

Besides building its space station, China has launched a number of space missions including a lunar probe that collected samples for the first time from the far side of the moon and brought them back to earth for scientific studies.

The Shenzhou-19 crew consists of mission commander Cai Xuzhe, and astronauts Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze.

Wang is currently China’s only female space engineer and the third Chinese woman participating in a crewed spaceflight mission, the CMSA said.

The tasks for new crew included conducting space science and application tests, performing extravehicular activities, installing protective devices against space debris, and managing the installation and recycling of extravehicular payloads and equipment.

Lin Xiqiang, CMSA spokesperson told a press conference on Tuesday (October 29, 2024) that the crew will carry out 86 space science research and technology experiments, covering various fields including space life science, microgravity fundamental physics, space material science, space medicine and new space technologies.

The Shenzhou-19 astronauts will complete in-orbit rotation with the trio currently manning and stay at the space station for approximately six months.

Wang Haoze explained that she will be mainly responsible for space experimental projects, cargo management, and space station operation management.

“China is also engaging in discussions to select and train astronauts from partner nations, inviting international counterparts to join its space station flight missions,” Mr. Lin said.

Considering the close ties, an astronaut from Pakistan was expected to join in future space station missions.

“No matter which country participates, it is humanity’s collective quest to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos,” Mr. Lin said.

A Long March rocket with a Shenzhou-19 spacecraft atop takes off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China in the early hours of Wednesday (October 30, 2024).
| Photo Credit: AP

A Chinese spaceship carrying a three-person crew docked with its orbiting space station Tuesday (October 29, 2024) as the country seeks to expand its exploration of outer space in competition with the United States, even as it looks for cooperation from other nations.

The team of two men and one woman will replace the astronauts who have lived on the Tiangong space station for the last six months, conducting a variety of experiments and maintaining the structure.

They are expected to stay until April or May of next year. The new mission commander, Cai Xuzhe, went to space in the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022, while the other two, Song Lingdong and Ms. Wang Haoze, are first-time space travellers. Mr. Song and Ms. Wang were born in the 1990s and are graduates of the third wave of Chinese astronaut recruitment, having undergone a rigorous testing and training process taking years.

Early Wednesday (October 30, 2024) morning, China declared the launch and entry into outerspace a “complete success.”

The Shenzhou-19 spaceship carrying the trio blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 4:27 a.m. local time atop a Long March-2F rocket, the backbone of China’s crewed space missions.

“The crew condition is good and the launch has been successful,” the state broadcaster China Central Television announced.

China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, mainly because of U.S. concerns over the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese Communist Party’s military arm’s overall control over the space program. China’s moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the U.S. and others, including Japan and India.

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Mr. Song was an air force pilot and Ms. Wang, an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Ms. Wang will be the crew’s payload specialist and the third Chinese woman aboard a crewed mission.

Besides putting a space station into orbit, the Chinese space agency has landed an explorer on Mars. It aims to put a person on the moon before 2030, which would make China the second nation after the United States to do so. It also plans to build a research station on the moon and has already transferred rock and soil samples from the moon in a first for any nation in decades, and placed a rover on the little-explored far side of the moon in a global first.

The U.S. still leads in space exploration and plans to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, though NASA pushed the target date back to 2026 earlier this year.

The new Chinese crew will perform spacewalks and install new equipment to protect the station from space debris, some of which was created by China.

According to NASA, large pieces of debris have been created by “satellite explosions and collisions.” China’s firing of a rocket to destroy a redundant weather satellite in 2007 and the “accidental collision of American and Russian communications satellites in 2009 greatly increased the amount of large debris in orbit,” it said.

China’s space authorities say they have measures in place in case their astronauts have to return to Earth earlier.

China launched its first crewed mission in 2003, becoming only the third nation to do so after the former Soviet Union and the United States. The space program is a source of enormous national pride and a hallmark of China’s technological advances over the past two decades.