DM Monitoring
HAIKOU: Both the launch vehicle and the cargo spacecraft commissioned for the initial construction missions of China’s first-ever space station have arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China’s Hainan Province, waiting for a window period for the launch. China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) announced Monday that the Long March-7 Y3 carrier rocket and the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft have arrived at the launch center in the tropical province.
This mission is expected to be launched after the Long March-5B Y2 rocket and the Tianhe core cabinet module of the space station, which have also entered pre-launch phase and are undergoing assembly and testing at the launch pad at the Wenchang launch center.
As people from all over the world celebrate International Day of Human Space Flight 2021, which is observed globally on Monday to mark the 60th anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first manned flight into space, the world’s first, the progress for China’s space station construction missions has added to the worldwide excitement of human space voyage. According to a press release the CMSEO provided to the Global Times on Monday, the facility at the Wenchang Space Launch Center is in good condition, and all systems involved in the testing work are proceeding as planned.
The Long March-5B, Long March-7 and Long March-2F rockets will jointly execute missions this year for the space station construction from three launch pads in two space centers, to send the core cabinet of the space station, Tianzhou-2 cargo spaceship and Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship, into space, and to complete docking and key in-orbit technological verification work, the Global Times learned from the state-owned space giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) in January.
It is expected that following the launch of the space station core cabinet by the Long March-5B, the Long March-7 and Long March-2F will lift off in succession, and the specific windows for these two launches will be determined by the core cabinet mission situation, CASC said.
