Tianzhou

Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft prior to launch
Manufacturer	CASC
Country of origin	China
Operator	CMSA
Applications	Tiangong Space Station resupply
Specifications
Spacecraft type	Automated cargo spacecraft
Launch mass	13,500 kg (29,800 lb) (basic); 14,000 kg (31,000 lb) (improved)
Payload capacity	6,900 kg (15,200 lb) (basic); 7,400 kg (16,300 lb) (improved)
Dimensions	10.6 m × 3.35 m (34.8 ft × 11.0 ft)
Volume	40 m3 (1,400 cu ft)[1]
Production
Status	Active
On order	1
Built	9
Launched	9
Operational	1
Maiden launch	Tianzhou 1
Last launch	Tianzhou 9
Related spacecraft
Derived from	Tiangong-1
Powered by	4× 490 N main engines, 32 attitude control engines (25, 120, 150 N thrust)[2]

TheTianzhou (Chinese:天舟;pinyin:Tiān Zhōu;lit. 'Heavenly Ship') is a Chinese automatedcargo spacecraft developed from China's first prototypespace stationTiangong-1 to resupply its modular space station. It was first launched (Tianzhou 1) on theLong March 7 rocket fromWenchang on April 20, 2017^[3] and demonstrated autonomous propellant transfer (space refueling).^[4][5]

The first version of Tianzhou has a mass of 13,500 kg and can carry 6,900 kg of cargo. Tianzhou-6 is the first improved version of the spacecraft to be launched into orbit; it has a mass of about 14,000 kg and can transport 7,400 kg of cargo.^[6]

Based on theTiangong-1 space station, the Tianzhou functions as the mainautomated cargo spacecraft for theTiangong space station. It has pressurized, semi-pressurized and unpressurized cargo capabilities, and is able to transport airtight cargo, large extravehicular payloads and experiment platforms. It was first launched on the newLong March 7 rocket fromWenchang on April 20, 2017.^[4][7]

TheChina Manned Space Engineering Office opened a consultation for the naming of the prospective cargo ship on April 25, 2011. By May 20, it had received more than 50,000 suggestions.^[8] On July 8,Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut and deputy director of theChinese Academy of Sciences revealed that they had a short list of ten names.^[9] On October 31, 2013, it was revealed that the spacecraft had been namedTianzhou (Chinese:天舟;pinyin:Tiān Zhōu;lit. 'Heavenly Boat'), combining the Chinese names of theTiangong (Chinese:天宫;pinyin:Tiān Gōng)space stations and theShenzhou (Chinese:神舟;pinyin:Shén Zhōu)spacecraft. They also stated that they would use the two letter identificationTZ.^[10]

Tianzhou spacecraft were initially flown to the Tiangong space station every 6 months. FromTianzhou 6 onward, missions have been flown with the new version of Tianzhou with increased cargo capacity, allowing the launch frequency to be reduced to three ships every two years.^[11]

• Comparison of space station cargo vehicles
  • Progress spacecraft – an expendable cargo vehicle currently in use by theRussian Federal Space Agency
  • Automated Transfer Vehicle – a retired expendable cargo vehicle used by theESA
  • Cygnus spacecraft – an expendable cargo vehicle developed byNorthrop Grumman under AmericanCRS program, currently in use.
  • H-II Transfer Vehicle – an expendable cargo vehicle currently in use byJAXA
  • Dream Chaser Cargo System - a cargo variant of the reusableSNC's spaceplane withShooting Star module.
  • Dragon cargo spacecraft - a reusable cargo vehicle developed bySpaceX, under AmericanCRS program, currently in use.

• Media related toTianzhou at Wikimedia Commons

• Tianzhou (spacecraft)
• Cargo spacecraft
• Vehicles introduced in 2017
• Space program of China
• 2017 establishments in China

• CS1 Simplified Chinese-language sources (zh-hans)
• CS1 Chinese (China)-language sources (zh-cn)
• CS1 Chinese-language sources (zh)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Chinese-language text
• Articles containing simplified Chinese-language text
• Commons category link is on Wikidata