The Tianzhou () is a Chinese automated
cargo spacecraft
Uncrewed spacecraft or robotic spacecraft are spacecraft without people on board. Uncrewed spacecraft may have varying levels of autonomy from human input, such as remote control, or remote guidance. They may also be autonomous, in which the ...
developed from China's first prototype
space station
A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...
Tiangong-1 to resupply its
modular space station. It was first launched (
Tianzhou 1) on the
Long March 7 rocket from
Wenchang on April 20, 2017
and demonstrated autonomous propellant transfer (
space refueling).
The first version of Tianzhou has a mass of 13,500 kg and can carry 6,500 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.
Function
Based on the
Tiangong-1 space station, the Tianzhou functions as the main
automated cargo spacecraft for the
Tiangong space station
Tiangong (), officially the ''Tiangong'' space station (), is a permanently crewed space station constructed by China and operated by China Manned Space Agency. Tiangong is a modular design, with modules docked together while in low Earth o ...
. 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 new
Long March 7 rocket from
Wenchang on April 20, 2017.
Name
The
China 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.
On July 8,
Yang Liwei
Yang Liwei (; born 21 June 1965) is a Chinese major general, former military pilot, and former taikonaut of the People's Liberation Army.
In October 2003, Yang became the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program. This missi ...
, China's first astronaut and deputy director of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...
revealed that they had a short list of ten names.
On October 31, 2013, it was revealed that the spacecraft had been named Tianzhou (), combining the Chinese names of the
Tiangong ()
space station
A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...
s and the
Shenzhou ()
spacecraft
A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed spaceflight, to fly and operate in outer space. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth observation, Weather s ...
. They also stated that they would use the two letter identification TZ.
Missions
Tianzhou spacecraft were initially flown to the Tiangong space station every 6 months. From
Tianzhou 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.
See also
*
Comparison of space station cargo vehicles
**
Progress spacecraft
The Progress () is a Russian expendable cargo spacecraft. Originally developed for the Soviet space program and derived from the crewed Soyuz spacecraft, Progress has been instrumental in maintaining long-duration space missions by providing ...
– an expendable cargo vehicle currently in use by the
Russian Federal Space Agency
The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space flights, cosmonautics programs, and aerospace research.
Originating from ...
**
Automated Transfer Vehicle – a retired expendable cargo vehicle used by the
ESA
**
Cygnus spacecraft – an expendable cargo vehicle developed by
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...
under American
CRS program, currently in use.
**
H-II Transfer Vehicle
The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), also called , is an Expendable launch system, expendable Japanese Cargo spacecraft, automated cargo spacecraft designed for International Space Station (ISS) resupply missions, particularly the Kibo (ISS module ...
– an expendable cargo vehicle currently in use by
JAXA
The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...
**
Dream Chaser Cargo System - a cargo variant of the reusable
SNC's spaceplane with
Shooting Star module.
**
Dragon cargo spacecraft - a reusable cargo vehicle developed by
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...
, under American
CRS program, currently in use.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tianzhou
Cargo spacecraft
Vehicles introduced in 2017
Space program of the People's Republic of China
2017 establishments in China