By 
July 8th, 2025
Image credit: CMSA
Update: China’s Tianzhou-8 cargo craft has re-entered the atmosphere in a controlled manner at 06:42 Beijing Time on Wednesday (22:42 on Tuesday GMT), according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The Shenzhou-20 crew aboard China’s Tiangong space station viewed the departure of the Tianzhou-8 resupply cargo craft. It separated from the station combination on Tuesday stated the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
That cargo craft will re-enter the atmosphere in a controlled manner, the CMSA said, with most of the hardware destroyed during re-entry into the atmosphere. A small amount of debris will fall into the designated safe sea area.
Tianzhou-8 logo.
Image credit: CMSA
Payload transfer
Tianzhou-8 was lobbed into orbit atop a Long March-7 Y9 carrier rocket on November 15, 2024 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan.
About three hours later, the Tianzhou-8 cargo craft docked at the rear docking port of Tianhe, the core module of the Tiangong space station.Tianzhou-8 brought up to the orbiting outpost roughly six tons of consumables, propellants, experiment equipment, and scientific research supplies.
China’s Tiangong space station as imaged by MAXAR satellite.
Image credit: MAXAR
Once docked to the station, part of the Tianzhou-8 payload that was transferred by crewmembers into the facility included brick specimens made of synthetic lunar soil.
The material was later subjected outside the complex to appraise their mechanical, thermal and radiation resistance properties.
That research data is to be used for future construction purposes on the Moon.
Chinese team on lunar habitat construction is led by Ding Lieyun. He is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chief scientist of the National Center of Technology Innovation for Digital Construction (NCTI-DC) at central China’s Huazhong University.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Go to these videos describing the Tianzhou-8 at:
Posted in Space News
