Photo: AFP/Xinhua/Hu Xujie
Eurasia
15/01/2024 20:31
The cargo spacecraft will be launched in the near future at an appropriate time, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
The facilities and equipment at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in China's southern island province of Hainan are all in good condition, and various pre-launch function checks and joint tests will be carried out as planned, the agency said in a statement.
According to China Daily, Tianzhou 7 is scheduled to set out in the coming days to dock with the country's Tiangong space station to deliver propellants, science payloads and necessities for the astronauts serving there, according to mission plans.
Currently, the ground equipment at the Wenchang center is in good condition, the agency said in a news release, adding that the final functional examinations will be conducted on systems involved in the launch.
The Long March 7 rocket was transported to the Wenchang center in late December and then underwent prelaunch checks with the cargo ship.
On Friday afternoon, the Tianzhou 6 cargo craft undocked from Tiangong and will fall back to Earth very soon, the space agency said. Most of the spaceship will burn up during reentry, and a small amount of debris is expected to fall into secure areas in the South Pacific Ocean.
Tianzhou 7 will become the 12th spaceship to visit the Chinese space station and the first to do so this year.
Orbiting Earth about 400 kilometers above the ground, Tiangong has three permanent parts — a core module and two science capsules — and is regularly connected to several visiting crew and cargo spaceships.