Shenzhou-19 Crew Lands; Shenzhou-20 Now on Tiangong
Why in the news
China’s Shenzhou-19 crew came home after a half-year orbital stay that featured a world-record spacewalk. Shenzhou-20 now runs the Tiangong station.
Key facts
- Shenzhou-19 crew: Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, Wang Haoze; lifted off 30 October 2024 from Jiuquan.
- Landing: 30 April 2025 at Dongfeng, one day late because of bad weather; all three healthy.
- Record: about nine hours outside on 17 December 2024, ahead of the mark set in 2001.
- Wang Haoze became the first Chinese woman spaceflight engineer, and only the third Chinese woman to reach space.
- Work done: experiments in life sciences, materials and fluid physics; debris shielding fitted.
| Item | Shenzhou-19 | Shenzhou-20 |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | 30 Oct 2024 | 24 Apr 2025 |
| Crew | Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, Wang Haoze | Chen Dong (commander), Chen Zhongrui, Wang Jie |
| Rocket | – | Long March-2F from Jiuquan, Gansu |
About Tiangong
- Core module Tianhe (April 2021) plus labs Wentian and Mengtian (2022), in low Earth orbit.
- Crewed without a break since June 2022, with three-person rotations about every six months.
- Built after China was shut out of the International Space Station; a Pakistani astronaut is expected under a 2025 pact.
- Shenzhou-20 will make the first study of planarians (regenerating flatworms) on board.
Future plans
- Moon landing before 2030 using Long March-10, Mengzhou and Lanyue, then an International Lunar Research Station.
- Chang’e-6 fetched first far-side samples (2024); Tianwen-2 targets an asteroid; Tianwen-3 a Mars sample near 2028.
Exam angle
- Chen Dong: first Chinese astronaut above 200 cumulative days in orbit.
- Tiangong module names; Dongfeng landing site.