Shenzhou 17 crew boards China's space station

A Long March 2F rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 03:14 UTC carrying the Shenzhou 17 spacecraft and its crew of three to the Tiangong space station in low Earth orbit. The Shenzhou 17 spacecraft docked at the forward port of the Tianhe module at 09:46 and was greeted by the Shenzhou 16 crew after opening the hatch at 11:34.

With the arrival of the Shenzhou 17 crew onboard until May 2024, the Shenzhou 16 crew can return to Earth at the end of October or early November. The Shenzhou 16 crew would have been on orbit for 155 days at the Tiangong space station after arriving on the 30th of May 2023.

The Shenzhou 17 crew will conduct 'space science and application payload tests and experiments' as well as extravehicular activities to install payloads and for maintenance. Shenzhou 17 will be the sixth long-duration spaceflight aboard of the Tiangong space station.

Who are the crew?

The Commander of the Shenzhou 17 crew is Tang Hongbo who is making his second spaceflight. Tang Hongbo previously flew on the Shenzhou 12 mission as the System Operator for the first crewed mission to the Tiangong space station at the start of its construction phase. He previously served as a fighter pilot for the People's Liberation Army Air Force at the rank of Senior colonel.

The Operator of the Shenzhou 17 crew is Tang Shengjie who is making his first spaceflight. Tang Shengjie was previously a 'first-grade pilot and squadron commander' at a People's Liberation Army Air Force fighter jet brigade before being selected as a taikonaut in September 2020.

The System Operator of the Shenzhou 17 crew is Jiang Xinlin who is making his first spaceflight. Jiang Xinlin was previously a 'first-grade pilot and deputy group commander' at a People's Liberation Army Air Force fighter jet brigade before being selected as a taikonaut in September 2020.

What is the Tiangong space station?

The Tiangong space station, also called the Chinese space station, is a permanently crewed space station in low Earth orbit operated by the China Manned Space Agency. The space station consists of the Tianhe core module, which was launched first on the 29th of April 2021, the Wentian laboratory module, which was launched second on the 24th of July 2022, and the Mengtian laboratory module, which was launched third on the 31st of October 2022. The station currently has a pressurized volume of three hundred and forty cubic meters with one hundred and twenty-two cubic meters of it being habitable.

What is the Shenzhou spacecraft?

The Shenzhou spacecraft is China’s only operational crewed spacecraft and is currently used to ferry its crews to and from the Tiangong space station. The spacecraft has a pressurized volume of almost fifteen cubic meters with a habitable volume of seven cubic meters. Currently, the Shenzhou spacecraft has a crew capacity of three.