China's Tiangong space station marks five years since core module launch
Updated
Updated · bastillepost.com · Apr 29
China's Tiangong space station marks five years since core module launch
9 articles · Updated · bastillepost.com · Apr 29
Since Tianhe entered orbit on 29 April 2021, Tiangong has hosted 10 crews from Shenzhou-12 to Shenzhou-21 and supported 26 spacewalks.
Completed in late 2022 with the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules, it is one of only two space stations currently in orbit alongside the ISS.
China plans one cargo mission and two crewed flights this year, while preparing to host astronauts from Hong Kong, Macao and Pakistan and advancing a crewed moon mission by 2030.
Can China's technology support its ambitious plan to triple Tiangong's size while also landing astronauts on the Moon by 2030?
As the ISS era ends, how will China's expanding space station reshape global alliances and the future of collaboration in orbit?
China’s Tiangong Space Station: From Emergency Mission Extension to Post-ISS Global Leadership
Overview
In late 2025, a micrometeoroid impact caused a crack in the Shenzhou-20 return capsule, leading CMSA to declare it unfit for crewed return. The crew safely returned using Shenzhou-21, while an unmanned Shenzhou-22 was launched as a lifeboat and supply vehicle. This incident triggered an extension of the Shenzhou-21 mission into mid-2026 to validate long-duration spaceflight technologies and implement enhanced safety protocols. Since its core modules launched between 2021 and 2022, Tiangong has become a vital research platform, hosting over 260 experiments and record-breaking spacewalks. Plans to double its size by the early 2030s aim to position Tiangong as the leading orbital outpost after the ISS retires, with growing international collaboration amid shifting geopolitical dynamics.