BEIJING: China’s first emergency space launch went ahead without incident on Tuesday (Nov 25), as the country plugged safety risks at its crewed space station after a vessel was damaged in orbit earlier this month.
The unmanned Shenzhou-22 spacecraft lifted off on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China at 12.11pm, according to China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
“The spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket and entered its planned orbit. The launch mission was a complete success,” CMSA said in a statement published on its official WeChat account.
Video shared by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed the rocket blazing into space, with Earth visible in the background as the vessel entered orbit.
The spacecraft travelled to China’s permanently inhabited Tiangong space station, docking at 3.50pm, according to CCTV.
SPARE PARTS AND GROCERIES
The Shenzhou-20 vessel was meant to return a trio of Chinese astronauts back to Earth on Nov 5, but was deemed unfit to fly after the window of its return capsule was cracked by what CMSA suspects was impact from space debris.
The incident forced China’s space authorities on Nov 14 to deploy the only remaining flightworthy vessel, the Shenzhou-21, which had arrived at the space station in late October, bringing a new trio of astronauts.
With the departure of Shenzhou-21 six months before schedule, the crew on Tiangong was left without a flightworthy spacecraft for 11 days, a safety risk the arrival of Shenzhou-22 has removed.
“This emergency launch is a first for China, but I hope it will be the last in humanity’s journey through space,” CMSA official He Yuanjun told CCTV.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-shenzhou-22-first-emergency-mission-complete-tiangong-space-station-5489056
