China to launch Shenzhou XIV manned mission

The combination of the Shenzhou XIV manned spaceship and a Long March 2F carrier rocket is seen being transferred to the launch site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on May 29, 2022. [Photo by Wang Jiangbo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Shenzhou XIV mission - China's ninth manned spaceflight – is scheduled for launch on Sunday morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gobi Desert, according to a senior mission official.

Lin Xiqiang, deputy head of the China Manned Space Agency, said at a news conference inside the Jiuquan center Saturday morning the three crew members – Senior Colonel Chen Dong, Senior Colonel Liu Yang and Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe -- will be sent to the Tiangong space station and stay there for half a year to continue the assembly of the colossal station.

The Long March 2F carrier rocket lifting the Shenzhou XIV spacecraft will blast off at 10:44 am, he said.

Chen will be mission commander. All crew members are from the second generation of the country's astronauts.

Before them the Shenzhou XII and XIII three-member crews lived inside the Tiangong, which is traveling in low-Earth orbit about 400 kilometers high. The Shenzhou XIII crew returned in mid-April.

In early May, the Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft was launched by a Long March 7 rocket from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, transporting nearly 6 metric tons of propellants and materials to Tiangong.

Tiangong consists of the Tianhe core module, the Tianzhou 3 and the Tianzhou 4.

In July, the station's first lab component -- Wentian, or Quest for the Heavens – will be launched, while the second lab named Mengtian, or Dreaming of the Heavens, will be sent to dock with the station in October. After they are connected with the Tiangong, the station will form a T-shaped structure.

After the space labs, the Tianzhou 5 cargo craft and the Shenzhou XV crew are scheduled to arrive at the massive orbiting outpost around the end of the year, according to mission officials.

The Tiangong is expected to operate for up to 15 years and will serve as a scientific platform, space officials have said, noting it will also be open to foreign astronauts.