Tiangong-1

Tiangong-1

Space Station· CNSA (China)inactive

Tiangong-1 — China's first space laboratory and docking testbed (2011-2018), which hosted the Shenzhou 8, 9 and 10 missions.

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Key facts

Status
Completed
Launched
2011

Science

Mission

Operator
CNSA (China)
Launched
September 29, 2011
Status
Completed

Mission

Tiangong-1 — 'Heavenly Palace' — was China's first space laboratory, launched on 29 September 2011 to master the rendezvous and docking skills any space station requires. Weeks later the uncrewed Shenzhou 8 performed China's first automated docking with it, and in 2012 Shenzhou 9 carried the first Chinese crew aboard — including Liu Yang, China's first woman in space — followed by Shenzhou 10 in 2013. Together these missions made China the third nation to independently operate a crewed station. After its working life ended contact was lost, and Tiangong-1 made an uncontrolled re-entry on 2 April 2018, most of it burning up over the southern Pacific. It was a deliberately modest first step in a programme that would lead to the far larger Tiangong station of the 2020s.

  1. 2011China's first stationLaunch

    Tiangong-1 launches to test the rendezvous and docking skills a station requires.

  2. 2011China's first dockingMilestone

    The uncrewed Shenzhou 8 performs China's first automated docking in orbit.

  3. 2012First crew aboardArrival

    Shenzhou 9 brings the first crew, including Liu Yang, China's first woman in space.

  4. 2018Uncontrolled re-entryMission end

    After its working life, Tiangong-1 re-enters over the southern Pacific.

Images

Model of Tiangong-1 with a docked Shenzhou spacecraft
Leebrandoncremer / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image