Shenzhou-14 Crew Enters Tianzhou-5 Cargo Craft

The Shenzhou-14 crew entered the Tianzhou-5 cargo craft on November 13, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), which also announced China will launch the Tianzhou series every six months in the future.

The crew opened the hatch door of Tianzhou-5 at 2:18 p.m. (Beijing Time) and entered the cargo spacecraft at 3:03 p.m. following preparation work, the CMSA said.

China launched the cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-5 on November 12 to deliver supplies for the country’s space station — whose construction is expected to be completed this year. The cargo spacecraft system is a key part of China’s space station. After the space station forms a T-shaped structure, the cargo crafts will continue their tasks during the space station’s operation — providing support for astronauts, scientific experiments in space, and the operation of the space station.

From Tianzhou-6, the cargo series will have system upgrades such as a relatively large improvement of the cargo cabin and a substantial increase in the cargo transport capacity of the sealed cabin, said Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of the Tianzhou cargo craft from the China Academy of Space Technology. He noted that the supplies delivered to the space station will be able to support the astronauts for a longer time.

The launch site has also streamlined and optimized the pre-launch process of the Long March-7, the carrier rocket of the Tianzhou series. Zhong Wen’an, chief engineer at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, said that it currently takes 27 days to test and launch a Long March-7 rocket, a decrease of 15 days from the first Long March-7 rocket launch.