 Shenzhou 15 atop aLong March 2F prior to liftoff | |
| Mission type | Tiangong space station crew transport |
|---|---|
| Operator | China Manned Space Agency |
| COSPAR ID | 2022-162A |
| SATCATno. | 54379 |
| Mission duration | 186 days, 7 hours and 25 minutes |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | Shenzhou |
| Manufacturer | China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 |
| Members | Fei Junlong Deng Qingming Zhang Lu |
| EVAs | 4 |
| EVA duration | 7 hours 6 minutes(1st EVA only) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 29 November 2022, 15:08:17 UTC |
| Rocket | Long March 2F |
| Launch site | Jiuquan,LA-4/SLS |
| Contractor | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 3 June 2023, 22:33 UTC |
| Landing site | Inner Mongolia,China |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Inclination | 41.5° |
| Docking withTiangong space station | |
| Docking port | Tianhe forward |
| Docking date | 29 November 2022, 21:42 UTC |
| Undocking date | 3 June 2023, 13:29 UTC |
| Time docked | 185 days, 15 hours and 47 minutes |
 Shenzhou 15 mission patch  Fei Junlong,Deng Qingming andZhang Lu | |
Shenzhou 15 (Chinese:神舟十五号;pinyin:Shénzhōu Shíwǔ-hào;lit. 'Divine Boat Number 15') was a Chinese spaceflight to theTiangong space station, launched on 29 November 2022. It carried threePeople's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC)taikonauts on board aShenzhou spacecraft. The mission was the tenth crewed Chinese spaceflight and the fifteenth flight overall of theShenzhou program.
Shenzhou 15 was the fourth spaceflight to theTiangong space station, and the third with a standard mission duration of approximately six months.[1] It was also the first mission to the station following its initial completion, with the launch and docking of theWentian andMengtian modules in July and October 2022 respectively.[2]
Prior to launch, the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft was maintained in a state of near-readiness if needed as a lifeboat for theShenzhou 14 crew.[3]
The crew of Shenzhou 15 was announced on 28 November 2022.[4]
The flight launched fromJiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 29 November 2022 at 15:08 UTC, following the launch ofTianzhou 5 and near the end of theShenzhou 14 mission.[5] Just over 6.5 hours after launch, the spacecraft docked with theTianhe core module's forward docking port.
The crew entered the station at 23:33 UTC on 29 November, and were greeted by the crew of Shenzhou 14. This marked the first Chinese crew handover in space, and set a new record for total taikonauts in space, at six. There was a five-day overlap between Shenzhou 15 and the previous mission before Shenzhou 14's departure on 4 December.[6][7]
During the mission, theShenzhou 16 spacecraft remained on standby to serve as an emergency rescue vehicle.[8]
The Shenzhou 15 crew carried out fourspacewalks, worked on payloads both inside and outside the station, and carried out other scientific work during the six-month mission.[7] During Shenzhou 15's stay aboard Tiangong, theTianzhou 6 cargo spacecraft arrived and docked with the station.[9]
On 9 February 2023, the first scheduled spacewalk of Shenzhou 15 was carried out by Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu, with Deng Qingming assisting the pair from inside theTianhe core module. The two exited through the airlock of theWentian lab module and completed a series of tasks, including the installation of a fourth external pump (Z01-04) on theMengtian lab module and other tasks related toMengtian's payload airlock, which allows science payloads and small satellites to be deployed using the station's robotic arms. The first spacewalk lasted for 7 hours and 6 minutes, a new duration record for a Chinese spacewalk at the time.[10][11][12]
The second spacewalk was publicly announced on 2 March 2023 with no official date given (although rumors suggest it may have occurred on 28 February),[13] with Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu on EVA while Deng Qingming once again assisted from aboard the station. According to some Chinese-language sources, the repetitive motion of detaching and re-attaching a safety tether to exterior handrails on the station strained Fei Junlong's upper body during the initial transfer to the work site. The equipment installed on EVA 2 allegedly had about 20 electrical plugs, whose protective covers had to be removed before installation and a power test.[14]
The mission's third spacewalk was rumored to have occurred on 30 March 2023, although similar to the second EVA, no official date was given. Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu installed connecting cables across the station cabin, with more than 40 electrical plugs allegedly being installed.[15]
The mission's fourth and final spacewalk is rumored to have occurred on 15 April 2023. Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu installed the fifth extended pump (Z02-01) on the exterior ofMengtian, as well as dumping trash bags, and installing additional cross-cabin cables, an external load exposure platform, and support rods for later, larger-scale science and technology experiments.[16]
No duration was officially given for the last three spacewalks.
Shenzhou 15 returned to Earth on 3 June 2023, landing at the Dongfeng landing site in theGobi Desert inInner Mongolia at 22:33 UTC.[17]
On 02 April 2024 at 08:40 UTC the 1500-kg (3300-pound) Shenzhou 15Orbital Module reentered the Earth's atmosphere in an uncontrolled fashion over California. The Orbital Moduleburned in the atmosphere creating a blazing fireball witnessed by several people.
It was originally mistaken as the possible reentry of aSpaceXFalcon-9 stage involved in theStarlink Group 7-18 launch that had taken place a few hours earlier or even for the launch itself before associations such as theAmerican Meteor Society and theAAVSO identified it properly.
The uncontrolled reentry also raised criticism over proper disposal ofspace debris to avoid the associated danger to artificial satellites as well as people on the ground.[18]
| Position | Crew member | |
|---|---|---|
| Commander |  Fei Junlong,PLAACSecond spaceflight | |
| Operator | Deng Qingming, PLAAC First spaceflight | |
| System Operator | Zhang Lu, PLAAC First spaceflight | |
Commander Fei Junlong previously flew onShenzhou 6, China's second crewed spaceflight, in 2005.
Shenzhou 15 was Deng Qingming's first spaceflight after 25 years of training, having been selected as a taikonaut in 1997.[17]
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