posted 04-19-2017 09:47 PM               

China to launch first cargo spacecraft

China's first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, is scheduled for launch for the nation's Tiangong-2 spacelab on Thursday (April 20), officials with the Chinese manned space program said on Wednesday.

The uncrewed cargo spacecraft is scheduled to lift off aboard a Long March-7 Y2 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in the Hainan Province at 7:41 a.m. EDT (1141 GMT; 7:41 p.m. local time).

Tianzhou-1 is expected to enter a 236-mile-high (380-kilometer) orbit before docking with the Tiangong-2 lab, which has been in orbit since September 2016. The cargo ship is slated to conduct three dockings with the Tiangong-2 and demonstrate propellant refueling.

The 35-foot-long (10.6 m) spacecraft is capable of flying more than 6 tons of cargo. The Tianzhou-1 will also serve as an on orbit platform for experiments, including one on non-Newtonian gravitation, before its destructive re-entry into the atmosphere, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The launch of Tianzhou-1 is seen as a crucial step for China's plans to deploy a space station by 2020.

posted 04-20-2017 07:17 AM               

Long March 7 launches Tianzhou-1

China launched its first cargo spacecraft on Thursday (April 20) on a mission to the country's second orbital space lab.

The Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft lifted off atop a Long March 7 rocket from the Wenchang Space Center on Hainan Island at 7:41 a.m. EDT (1141 GMT; 7:41 p.m. Beijing time).

posted 04-22-2017 06:07 AM               

Tianzhou-1 docks at Tiangong-2

China's Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft docked to the Tiangong-2 space lab on Saturday (April 21), two days after its launch.

It was the first of three dockings planned between the spacecraft and orbiting module.

Tianzhou-1 began its approach to the Tiangong-2 at 10:02 p.m. EDT on Friday (0202 GMT or 10:02 a.m. Saturday Beijing time) and made contact with the lab at 12:16 a.m. EDT Saturday (0416 GMT; 12:16 p.m. Beijing time).

The second docking will follow a different approach to test the ability of the ship to dock with a future space station at different directions. In the third docking, Tianzhou-1 will perform a "fast-track" docking.

Tianzhou-1 will also refuel Tiangong-2, a multi-step process that will require several days to complete.

posted 04-27-2017 11:06 AM               

Tianzhou-1 demonstrates in-orbit refueling

China's Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft completed its first demonstration of on-orbit refueling on Thursday (April 27).

The capability to refuel its spacecraft will help China to build a larger, permanent space station, the Xinhua news service reported. China is the third country, behind Russia and the U.S., to demonstrate on-orbit refueling of a spacecraft.

Tianzhou-1's refueling of the Tiagong-2 space lab, under command of technicians on Earth, takes about five days. A second refueling demo is planned for June.

posted 09-22-2017 12:47 PM               

Tianzhou-1 completes mission with re-entry

China's first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, ended its mission during a destructive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on Friday (Sept. 22).

The spacecraft left orbit at 6 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT; or 6 p.m. Beijing time) as commanded from the ground. Tianzhou-1 was in space for 155 days.

After its first docking with China's Tiangong-2 space lab, Tianzhou-1 demonstrated a "fast" docking and performed three refueling tests on April 27, June 15 and Sept. 16.