China launches Shenzhou-19 crew to Heavenly Palace station

The Chinese space mission Shenzhou-19 was launched from the Jiuquan launch centre. Three astronauts were aboard the spacecraft. Their stay at the orbital Tiangong station will last six months.

On Tuesday at 8:27 PM Greenwich Mean Time (Wednesday, 12:27 PM local time), the Long March 2F rocket launched from the Gobi Desert in northwestern China. The flight aims to carry the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft with a three-person crew on board.

The mission commander is 48-year-old Cai Xuzhe, a veteran of the Shenzhou-14 flight in 2022. Newcomers, including Air Force pilot Song Lingdong, join him. Another person accompanying him on the journey is Wang Haoze, who, along with Song, was born in the 1990s. The 34-year-old Wang is the third Chinese woman in space and the first female spaceflight engineer.

During their six-month stay at the Tiangong station, the crew will conduct 86 scientific experiments in space life sciences, microgravity physics, materials technology, medicine, and new technologies. Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), announced the mission's objectives during a Tuesday press conference.

Onboard the station, instruments necessary for remote spacecraft operation and supporting spacewalks will be delivered with the astronauts. The Chinese also plan to install new equipment to protect the Tiangong station from space debris.

The Chinese Tiangong space station, also known as the "Heavenly Palace," is one of the significant achievements of the China National Space Administration (CNSA). It surprised the world with its advanced technological level and marked China's power in space.

Tiangong is the only facility managed by a single country, unlike the ISS, which results from international cooperation. The core module Tianhe was launched into low Earth orbit in 2021, and subsequent units, Wentian and Mengtian, joined it in 2022. The station measures approximately 45 metres in length and weighs about 60,000 kilograms.