On April 29, China's Tianhe core module for the Chinese Space Station (CSS) soared into orbit. Over a dozen follow-up launches are planned to complete assembly by late 2022.
The International Space Station (ISS) remains the sole orbital lab for now, but China's long-planned project—dating back to 1992—is changing that. The finished T-shaped CSS will feature three key modules: the 18-meter-long central Tianhe, plus 14.4-meter experiment modules Wentian and Mengtian. It will support three taikonauts for missions up to six months.
At 100 tons, the CSS is about a quarter the mass of the multinational ISS. Yet, as Gu Yidong, chief scientist of China's Manned Space program, explains, its design targets China's specific scientific experiment needs, not direct competition.
The station will host 14 refrigerator-sized experiment racks, plus versatile general-purpose ones.
Over 50 external mooring points will enable diverse experiments in space physiology, life sciences, fluid physics, materials science, astronomy, and Earth observation. Notably, 100 experiments have been selected from more than 800 national proposals.
Space is also allocated for international projects. For instance, University of Oslo researcher Tricia Larose will study weightlessness' impact on cancer using patient-derived 3D stem cell organoids—"mini-colons" from healthy and cancerous tissue—to examine microgravity's effects on DNA mutations.
China plans a second international call for proposals, with access available via institutional partnerships. Geopolitical hurdles persist, such as U.S. law barring direct NASA-China collaboration.
China also eyes a Hubble-like telescope launch in 2024, orbiting nearby for potential station docking during maintenance.
