Monitoring Desk
JIUQUAN: The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) confirmed on Monday that the Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship would lift off at 11:08 p.m. Beijing Time on Tuesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in northwest China.
Three astronauts — Fei Junlong, Zhang Lu, and Deng Qingming — will travel on the spacecraft to complete the Shenzhou-15 spaceflight mission. At a news conference, Ji Qiming, the CMSA director’s assistant, announced that Fei would serve as the commander. The crew will spend nearly six months in orbit.
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A Long March-2F carrier rocket, which will soon be fuelled, will conduct the launch, according to Ji.
He said that the Shenzhou-15 spacecraft would perform a quick, automated rendezvous and dock with the Tianhe core module’s front port after entering orbit.
Then, according to Ji, the space station will be expanded to its biggest form with three modules and three spacecraft, with a combined mass of around 100 tonnes.
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The Shenzhou-15 crew will see the entry of the Tianzhou-6 cargo ship and Shenzhou-16 manned spacecraft while they are in orbit. Additionally, they will exchange work tasks with the crew of the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft.
According to the plan, he said the Shenzhou-15 astronauts return to Earth in May next year.
