Tiangong Space Station

Topic: Space

Why in the news?

• China declared a “complete success” after launching a new three-person crew to its orbiting Tiangong space station. The country aims to expand its exploration of outer space with missions to the moon and beyond.
• The Shenzhou-19 spaceship, carrying the trio, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, atop a Long March-2F rocket, the backbone of China’s crewed space missions. 

Source: The New Indian Express 

About Tiangong Space Station:

• It is a modular space station being constructed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
• It is the first space station built by China.
• It is currently in low Earth orbit (LEO), and it is expected to be operational until 2028.
• It is a three-module space station. The core module, Tianhe, launched in April 2021, followed by the Wentian and Mengtian experiment modules in 2022.
• It is smaller and lighter than the International Space Station (ISS), with only three modules compared to the ISS\'s 16 modules.
• It can accommodate up to three astronauts at a time for six-month stays. It can also support six astronauts at a time during crew handovers.
• It has its own power, propulsion, life support systems, and living quarters.
• It is planned to share its orbit with the Xuntian space telescope to allow astronauts to easily repair and upgrade the telescope.
• China is only the third country to have put both astronauts into space and build a space station, after the Soviet Union (now Russia) and the US.
  • China is excluded from the ISS programme, largely due to U.S. concerns over the Chinese space programs\' links with the People\'s Liberation Army.
  • In 2011, the US Congress prohibited NASA from cooperating substantially with its Chinese counterpart without prior authorization. This law, known as the Wolf Amendment, makes it very difficult for China to participate in the ISS programme.