A Long March-5B Y3 carrier rocket, carrying Wentian, the first lab module of China's space station, blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan province on July 24. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

Since China first initiated its space station project back in 1992, steady progress has been made to realize the dream of accommodating its astronauts in space.

After years of preparation, Tiangong space station construction has entered the full implementation stage. Marked by Tianhe core module launched in April 2021, China formally embarked on establishing one of humanity's largest and most sophisticated orbiting facilities.

With all key technologies verified as of the return of Shenzhou-13 crew, in-orbit construction of the space station began with the launching of Shenzhou-14 manned spacecraft in June, followed by the first lab module Wentian on July 24. The construction of China's Tiangong space station is expected to be completed this year.

More functional

As China's most adventurous space endeavor, the Tiangong space station will be mainly composed of three components — a core module and two space laboratories, performing the role of a national space laboratory for cutting-edge scientific research.

Hao Chun, director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), said the space station will assist scientists in advancing space science, technology and application, where scientists will be able to use the unique space environment to perform mutation breeding, produce special medicines and create new materials.

With its robotic arm and 3D printing facilities, the space station can support in-orbit manufacturing and installation of large equipment and in-orbit construction of space facilities, as well as assist astronauts to perform extravehicular activities.

In addition to its own components, the station will also share the orbit with Xuntian space telescope. The high-performance telescope, with a field of view 350 times larger than Hubble, will be launched in 2023 and dock with the station for refueling and maintenance.

Greener operation

Tiangong space station has a green energy support system that will realize more economical operation.

Flexible solar wings installed on the core module Tianhe, the first to be put into use in China's spacecraft, have been in operation for more than 400 days and providing energy for the construction of the space station. 

The two lab modules, Wentian and Mengtian, are also equipped with flexible solar wings, each pair twice as large as those on the core module. If fully unfolded, the wingspan of a pair of solar wings on Wentian is more than 55 meters, and the area of each solar wing is about 110 square meters, which is so far the largest in China.

The solar wings on Wentian are expected to generate an average of over 430 kWh of power daily, almost the consumption of an ordinary household in Beijing for one and a half months, and can provide sufficient energy for the operation of the space station, said Zhang Hao, designer of the space station system from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

During the operation of the space station, the manned spacecraft will transport crew members, while the cargo spacecraft will send supplies and experimental instruments and bring back waste to the earth.

Advanced physicochemical technologies for resource regeneration are also adopted, to facilitate recycling of resources and reduce the transportation costs of supplies.

Onboard environmental control and life support systems compromise functions including electrolytic oxygen generation, regenerative carbon dioxide removal, condensate collection and treatment, urine collection and treatment, therefore greatly reducing the supply of water resources and oxygen from Earth.

Space station for all

International collaboration has always been a significant part of the project.

The space station will be a port in space, capable of docking with multiple crewed and cargo spaceships, and will also be able to link with foreign spacecraft if they have a designated docking hatch.

The CMSA has signed agreements with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) on space station cooperation and published an announcement of opportunity, inviting scientists from around the world to submit their research proposals for an opportunity to conduct their own experiments on board the Chinese station.

Nine international science experiments have been selected by CMSA for installation aboard Tiangong in the coming years.

It is an innovative and future-focused program to open up space exploration activities to all nations and to create a new paradigm in building capabilities in space science and technology, said UNOOSA.

The space station will also carry out technical cooperation in space debris monitoring, prevention and mitigation, and medical protection for long-term in-orbit astronauts.