China's upcoming Shenzhou 12 mission, the first crewed flight since 2016, is slated for launch in June. Three taikonauts will dock with the core module of the nation's new orbital station.
The International Space Station (ISS) is no longer the sole orbital laboratory. China has successfully launched the core module of its own station and plans at least ten more launches to deliver additional modules, cargo, and crewed missions.
Shenzhou 12 marks China's seventh human spaceflight since 2003, when it became the third nation—after Russia and the United States—to independently conduct manned missions.
The last mission, Shenzhou 11 in 2016, saw two astronauts spend over a month aboard Tiangong 2, which was later deorbited for a controlled re-entry on July 19, 2019.
Shenzhou 12 will launch atop a Long March 2F rocket. Both the spacecraft and rocket arrived by rail at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in early April and are now in final assembly.
The mission will carry three taikonauts to low Earth orbit, where their spacecraft will dock with the station's core module. A preceding cargo mission, Tianzhou 2, will deliver supplies and propellant in May via a Long March 7 rocket from Wenchang in southern China.
Crew identities and mission duration remain undisclosed. However, through the station's completion in 2022, China plans four more cargo missions and four crewed ones.
Weighing about 100 tons—one-fifth the mass of the ISS—the station will host up to three taikonauts for six-month stays, or six for shorter periods.
Astronauts will perform experiments in space physiology, fluid physics, materials science, and astronomy. Over 100 studies have been selected from 800+ national proposals, including some international collaborations.
