Tianzhou Spacecraft
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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 Tiangong-1 () was China's first prototype space station. It orbited Earth from September 2011 to April 2018, serving as both a crewed laboratory and an experimental testbed to demonstrate orbital rendezvous and docking capabilities during it ...
to resupply its modular space station. It was first launched (
Tianzhou 1 Tianzhou 1 () was the debut mission of the Tianzhou-class uncrewed cargo spacecraft. It was developed as part of the crewed space program of China. Tianzhou means "heavenly vessel" in Chinese. On 20 April 2017, Tianzhou 1 was launched by rocket ...
) on the
Long March 7 The Long March 7 (), or Chang Zheng 7 in pinyin, abbreviated LM-7 for export or CZ-7 within China, originally Long March 2F/H or Chang Zheng 2F/H, nicknamed Bingjian (), is a Chinese liquid-fuelled launch vehicle of the Long March family, dev ...
rocket from
Wenchang Wenchang ( postal: Mencheong; ; Hainanese spellings: Boon Siou) is a county-level city in the northeast of Hainan Island in China. Covering an area of , the city has a coastline of , and is divided into 17 towns. The city is a major target for t ...
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 Tiangong-1 () was China's first prototype space station. It orbited Earth from September 2011 to April 2018, serving as both a crewed laboratory and an experimental testbed to demonstrate orbital rendezvous and docking capabilities during it ...
space station, the Tianzhou functions as the main
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 they ...
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 The Long March 7 (), or Chang Zheng 7 in pinyin, abbreviated LM-7 for export or CZ-7 within China, originally Long March 2F/H or Chang Zheng 2F/H, nicknamed Bingjian (), is a Chinese liquid-fuelled launch vehicle of the Long March family, dev ...
rocket from
Wenchang Wenchang ( postal: Mencheong; ; Hainanese spellings: Boon Siou) is a county-level city in the northeast of Hainan Island in China. Covering an area of , the city has a coastline of , and is divided into 17 towns. The city is a major target for t ...
on April 20, 2017.


Name

The
China Manned Space Engineering Office China Manned Space Agency (abbreviated as CMSA) is a government agency of China responsible for the administration of China Manned Space Program, the Chinese human spaceflight program. The agency is under the Equipment Development Department o ...
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 Tianzhou 6 () was the sixth mission of the Tianzhou-class uncrewed cargo spacecraft, and the fifth resupply mission to the Tiangong Space Station. Like previous Tianzhou missions, the spacecraft was launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch C ...
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 A number of different spacecraft have been used to carry cargo to and from space stations. This list does not include crewed spacecraft. Notes See also * Comparison of crewed space vehicles *Comparison of orbital launch systems *Co ...
**
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 The Automated Transfer Vehicle, originally Ariane Transfer Vehicle or ATV, was an expendable automated cargo spacecraft, cargo spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), used for space cargo transport in 2008–2015. The ATV desi ...
– a retired expendable cargo vehicle used by the
ESA The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 in the context of European ...
**
Cygnus spacecraft Cygnus is an Expendable launch system, expendable American Uncrewed spacecraft, automated cargo spacecraft designed for International Space Station (ISS) resupply missions. It was initially developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation with financia ...
– 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