In 2018, a fullscale mockup ofTianhe was publicly presented atChina International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition inZhuhai.[11][12] In October 2020, China selected 18 new astronauts ahead of the space station construction to participate in the country's space station project.[13]
The core module provides life support and living quarters for three crew members, and provides guidance, navigation, andorientation control for the station. The module also provides the station's power, propulsion, and life support systems. The module consists of three sections: habitable living quarters, a non-habitable service section, and a docking hub.[5] The living quarters have a volume of 50 cubic meters of habitable space for three people, compared to only 15 cubic meters forTiangong-1.[14]
The living quarters include a kitchen and toilet, fire control equipment, air processing and control equipment, computers, scientific apparatus, and ground communications equipment.[5] The station has a larger robotic arm, so it can move subsequent modules or resupply vehicles to different ports of the core module as a backup.[5][15] This ″Chinarm″ has modern mobility, can be elongated and features 7 axes of motion to crawl.[16] According to the latest reports, its ability is similar toCanadarm 2.[17]
Electrical power is provided by two steerablesolar power arrays, which usephotovoltaic cells to produce electricity. Energy is stored to power the station when it moves into the Earth's shadow.Tianzhou resupply ships replenish fuel for the module's propulsion engines for station-keeping to counter the effects ofatmospheric drag.[18] There are 4 ion engines for propulsion.[19]
Tianhe core module full-scale mockup displayed atChina Science and Technology MuseumFolded solar panel on Tianhe core module full-scale mockupTianhe core module being tested on the groundTianhe core module outward structures
The forwarddocking hub allows the core module to be docked with four other visiting spacecraft: two experimental modules,Wentian module andMengtian module, the cargoTianzhou spacecraft, and the crewedShenzhou spacecraft.[15] The axial and nadir ports of the module are fitted with rendezvous equipment. A mechanical arm similar to the RussianLyappa arm used on theMir space station is to be fitted to each of the future experiment modules. The axial port on the docking hub will be the primary docking port. When new modules arrive, they will first dock at the axial port, then the mechanical arm will attach and move the module to a radial port. Crew and supply ships from theJiuquan Satellite Launch Center will dock to either of the axial ports of the module, as well as the nadir port. Thezenith port has been modified to act as the station’sextravehicular activity (EVA) hatch, as the spherical docking hub is also the EVA airlock.[15]
First generation space stations such as the SovietSalyut 1 and NASA'sSkylab stations were not designed for re-supply, whileSalyut 6,Salyut 7 and Mir had multiple docking ports and were designed to be resupplied routinely during crewed operation.[20] The Tiangong space station's modular nature allows missions to change over time, and new modules can be added or removed from the existing structure, allowing greater flexibility.[21] It is designed for replenishment of consumables and has a service life of at least 10 years.[15][22]
The length of the module is 16.6 m (54 ft). It is cylindrical with a maximum diameter of 4.2 m (14 ft) and an on-orbit mass of 22,500 kg (49,600 lb).[7][6]
On 14 January 2021, CMSA announced the beginning of the construction phase for China's three-module space station. The core module,Tianhe, passed a flight acceptance review. This core module provides living space and life support for astronauts and houses the outpost's power and propulsion elements.[23][24]
Tianhe launched on 29 April 2021, at 03:23:15UTC atop aLong March 5Blaunch vehicle from theWenchang Spacecraft Launch Site.[7] After the core module was put into orbit, the empty first stage of its launch vehicle entered a temporary, uncontrolled failing orbit.[25] Some concerns were raised over possible damage from debris of the uncontrolled re-entry: observations showed the rocket was tumbling, which complicates predictions about an eventual landing area, although the most likely outcome was a maritime impact. Parallels were made with respect to a previous launch in May 2020[26] which reportedly caused some damage in theCôte d'Ivoire.[27] The rocket re-entered over the Arabian peninsula on 9 May at 02:24 UTC,[28] landing in the Indian Ocean west of theMaldives according to the CMSA, with much of it having reportedly burned up prior to impact.[note 1]United States Space Command confirmed the re-entry location.[29][note 2]
The first spacecraft scheduled that visited theTianhe core module was theTianzhou 2 cargo resupply spacecraft on 29 May 2021, followed byShenzhou 12, carrying a crew of three to the station on 17 June 2021.[1]Tianzhou 3 andShenzhou 13 were launched to the station on 20 September 2021 and 15 October 2021 respectively.[31][32]
All dates areUTC. Dates are the earliest possible dates and may change.
Forward ports are at the front of the station according to its normal direction of travel and orientation (attitude). Aft is at the rear of the station, used by spacecraft to boost the station's orbit.Nadir is closest to the Earth,zenith is on top.Port is to the left if pointing one's feet towards the Earth and looking in the direction of travel;starboard to the right.
Key
Uncrewed cargo spacecraft are in light blue colour
On 1 July 2021, the space station performed a maneuver in response to a possible close encounter with theStarlink-1095 communications satellite.[70] Another maneuver was carried out on 21 October of the same year in response to a possible collision withStarlink-2305.[70]
^'Space-Track.org', on itsTwitter feed, stated that based on data from the18th Space Control Squadron of the United States Space Force, the CZ-5B core stage that launched the Tianhe core module fell into the Indian Ocean north of theMaldives.[30]
^Duration of a spacecraft is calculated from the moment of docking with the Tianhe core module to the moment of undocking with the station.
^Initially docked to aft port, moved to forward port on 18 Sep 2021, and then again to portside port on 6 Jan 2022
^Initially docked to aft port, moved to forward port on 20 Apr 2022
^Initially docked to forward port, it was moved to starboard berth on 30 Sep 2022 by the Indexing Robot Arm
^Initially docked to forward port, it was moved to the port berth on 3 Nov 2022 by the Indexing Robot Arm
^Initially docked to aft port, from 5 May 2023, it was free-flying and co-orbiting the space station, then redocked to forward port on 5 June 2023
^Launched crewed, but landed uncrewed due to cracks in spacecraft's porthole caused by external space debris impact. Crew landed viaShenzhou 21.
^Landed withShenzhou 20 crew due to cracks inShenzhou 20 spacecraft's porthole caused by external space debris impact. Crew will land viaShenzhou 22.
^ab"中国载人航天工程标识及空间站、货运飞船名称正式公布" [CMSE logo and space station and cargo ship name officially announced] (in Chinese (China)). China Manned Space Engineering Office. 31 October 2013. Archived fromthe original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved29 June 2016.
^abcdefPing, Wu (23 April 2016)."空间站工程研制进展" [Space Station Project Development Progress](PDF). China Manned Space Engineering. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 14 September 2016. Retrieved29 June 2016.
^"天和一号核心舱（TianHe-1）" [TianHe core module (TianHe-1)].chinaspaceflight.com (in Chinese). 7 June 2016. Archived fromthe original on 19 June 2016. Retrieved30 June 2016.
^Smith, Adam (4 May 2021)."Chinese rocket "tumbling to Earth" and could land anywhere".The Independent. Retrieved5 May 2021.There are fears that the rocket could land on an inhabited area; the last time a Long March rocket was launched in May 2020, debris was reported falling on villages in the Ivory Coast. The speed of the rocket means scientists still do not yet know when it will fall, but it is likely to do so before 10 May 2021.
^ab"飞行任务时间表出炉！" [The mission schedule is out!].Shaoxing (in Chinese). 17 April 2022.Archived from the original on 4 August 2022. Retrieved17 April 2022.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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