--- title: "China Is About to Launch Astronauts to Its New Space Station" description: "China is set to launch the first astronauts to its new orbiting space station. A Long March 2F rocket rolled out onto the launch pad on Wednesday." date: "2021-06-10" modified: "2021-06-10" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-launch-astronauts-new-space-station" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "china" - "space" - "space station" - "the digest" --- # China Is About to Launch Astronauts to Its New Space Station ![China is set to launch the first astronauts to its new orbiting space station. A Long March 2F rocket rolled out onto the launch pad on Wednesday.]() *\Image: China News Service\* ## Space Visitors China is set to launch the first astronauts to its new Earth-orbiting space station. A Long March 2F rocket rolled out onto the launch pad on Wednesday, as *SpaceNews* reports, to send three astronauts to the Tianhe core module of China's space station, which launched into orbit in April of this year. There's a lot we don't know yet, including the exact launch date and the identities of the astronauts. But the launch could mark a major step forward in China's space ambitions, with the establishment of a sizeable and l0ng-term foothold in Earth's orbit. ## Human Spaceflight It's the country's first crewed mission in more than four years and its seventh overall, according to *SpaceNews*. That's a sizeable accomplishment on its own; in 2003, China became only the third country in the world to fly humans to space after the US and Russia. The last time China flew astronauts to space was to send them to the [Tiangong-2 space lab]() in 2016. The lab [burned up in the Earth's atmosphere]() after decommissioning in July 2019. The Shenzhou-12 capsule will stay docked to the Tianhe core module until September. As of right now, the module provides life support, living quarters, as well as propulsion — [courtesy of ion thrusters]() — to maintain orbit. Next year, China is hoping to add more modules to its nascent space station in order to conduct a number of scientific experiments in orbit. It will also be joined by the Xuntian optical module, a [Hubble-class space telescope](). The new station will not be exclusively used by Chinese astronauts, and is open to foreign astronauts. The country is hoping to get at least ten years of use out of it. **READ MORE:** [China set to launch first astronauts to space station with Shenzhou-12]() \[*SpaceNews*\] **More on the CSS:** *[China's New Space Station Is Powered by Ion Thrusters]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()