Shenzhou-16 Launch Sends China’s First Spacefaring Civilian to Tiangong Space Station

Shenzhou-16, carrying three new Chinese astronauts, including China’s first civilian, blasted off into clear skies atop a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert of northwestern China at 9:31 AM local time on Tuesday, May 30 (7:31 PM Monday Eastern US). The three men have now joined three other astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) revealed astronauts Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, and Gui Haichao as the new crew just one day before the launch during a press conference on May 29th in Jiuquan.

Jing, mission commander and veteran of the Shenzhou 7, 9, and 11 flights, leads the team. The experienced astronaut has spent a total of 47 days and 18 hours in space, including being one of China’s first spacewalkers during Shenzhou-7. This will be the first flight for spacecraft engineer Zhu, as well as Gui, a payload specialist and civilian professor from Baihang University. Zhu and Gui are part of the Chinese space program’s third batch of astronauts.

Prior to the launch, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) put forth a down-to-the-second timeline for the launch, which seems to have gone off without a hitch. The flight timeline describes how four liquid-fueled boosters and the center core of the Long March 2F (CZ-2F) ignited, blasting the rocket and Shenzhou-16 from the pad. About 155 seconds into the flight, the boosters decoupled from the center core while the center core continued to burn for a few more seconds. It then separated from the upper stage.

From then on, the second stage of the CZ-2F took over and pushed the Shenzhou capsule into orbit.

After 460 seconds, the second stage shut down, with the spacecraft decoupling from the rocket one minute later, the prewritten timeline concluded. The next stop for Shenzhou was the Tiangong space station.

Shenzhou-16 docked, without human control, to the station’s Tianhe module forward port at 4:29 PM Beijing time, according to CMSA; about seven hours after liftoff. And, with the mission’s success, the number of people currently orbiting the Earth has been brought up to 17, breaking the old record of 14 at a time.

The Shenzhou-16 was greeted by the Shenzhou-15 crew, including mission commander Fei Junlong, as well as Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu, who arrived at Tiangong in November. They will hand over control of the space station to the new crew before returning to Earth in early June, with current plans showing a landing opportunity on June 3.

Shenzhou-16, which translates into “Divine Boat,” is the sixteenth overall flight of Shenzhou program, carrying the fifth crew to visit the space station. For the next 180 days, the Shenzhou-16 crew will conduct several spacewalks, work on payloads on both the inside and outside of the station, and carry out a wide variety of scientific experiments, Lin Xiqiang, CMSA deputy director said during a Monday press conference.

He added that the astronauts are expected to carry out nearly 1,000 experiments during the mission, including making high-level scientific achievements in the study of novel quantum phenomena, high-precision space time-frequency systems, the verification of general relativity, human body research, microgravity physics research, Earth science, and the origin of life. The astronauts also will give lectures and take videos to popularize spaceflight during their stay in space.

When asked what it meant to be a taikonaut, Gui told reporters during Monday’s press conference it represented a faraway dream.

“To be honest,” he said, “taikonaut, this term for me is a secret name, and also a faraway dream. I had a dream that one day I could bring my passion in the scientific research to space and in 2018 the country had planned to select a payload specialist. This is a group of very lovely people.”

Comparing himself to a great warrior, Jing, Shenzhou-16’s commander, told reporters during a press conference, “The upcoming mission is the first space flight in the new stage; a new trail,” he said. “So you see we have a spaceflight pilot, a spaceflight engineer and payload specialist, which means that we will shoulder more complicated, arduous, and challenging tasks.”

“We’ve worked harder to train for a quality of flight and details of flight as well flight operations,” Jing continued. “Especially, the crew that can independently find the problems and troubleshoot the problems. We fly to the fruit of joy and the fruit of happiness.”

China started the Tiangong space station in May 2021 with the Tianhe module. Tiangong, meaning “Heavenly Palace” or “Sky Palace,” consists of a main habitat module and two modules for hosting experiments. Tianhe, the core station module, means “Harmony of the Heavens.” It provides living quarters, life support, propulsion, and navigation for the station. China attached the second module, Wentian (“Quest for the Heavens”), in April 2022, which introduced to the space station an airlock for spacewalks. In October 2022, China attached the Mengtian, or “Questing for the Heavens,” module, giving the space station its current T-shaped configuration.

Starting in 2016, China tested crucial space station system such as life support, rendezvous, and docking technologies while orbiting at about 234 miles (378 km) above Earth. The International Space Station (ISS) orbits at about 250 miles (400 km).

The ISS, by comparison. contains 16 modules. Tiangong, as a result, is much lighter weighing just 400 tons. The 54-foot-long (16.6 meters) Tianhe module contains a docking hub that allows it to receive both Shenzhou and Tianzhou spacecraft as well as other experimental modules in the future. A large robotic arm attached to the Wentian module will help position future modules and assist astronauts during spacewalks.

Shenzhou-16 marks the first flight of the second-generation Shenzhou spacecraft, according to CMSA officials. The upgraded spaceship carries many technical improvements over the first capsule, including more parts that were made by Chinese manufacturers in place of imported components, and improved mechanisms to make it easier for the crew to control the spacecraft.

Earlier in May, China launched the Tianzhou 6 cargo spacecraft, which delivered supplies for the Shenzhou-16 mission as well as science experiments, equipment, and propellant for the space station.

According to Chinese space officials, China hopes to launch not only Chinese astronauts to Tiangong but also foreign astronauts and space tourists.

It will be impossible for US astronauts to visit the Chinese space station. China had expressed interest in joining the ISS partners, but that option ended in 2011 when US lawmakers passed legislation banning NASA from coordinating directly with China or any Chinese-owned companies, making the prospect of sending US astronauts to Tiangong (or Chinese astronauts to ISS) impossible.

Just like with the ISS, it is possible to spot Tiangong sailing as a bright spot moving across the sky over your city by entering your latitude and longitude at heavens-above.com.