By 
December 11th, 2025
Artwork depicts Qingzhou cargo spacecraft (left) docked to Chinese space station, leading to growth of the orbiting outpost.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s up and coming Qingzhou cargo spacecraft has completed multiple key technology verifications and entered integrated testing.
Qingzhou, which means “Light Ship” in Chinese, is under development by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The vehicle is expected to provide a low-cost solution for transporting supplies to and from China’s space station.
Maiden flight
Full engineering model production is scheduled to begin in early 2026, and all construction will be completed by the end of that year, followed by its maiden flight.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“After the maiden flight of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, we will follow the plan for the in-orbit development of the space station,” said Chang Liang, chief designer of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft.
“In the future, the space station will be expanded from a T-shape to a structure of a cross with a horizontal bar atop,” Chang told China Central Television (CCTV), “which requires a large amount of supplies being transported to the space station.”
Stronger delivery capacity
Chang said that, together with the Tianzhou cargo craft and the Haolong space cargo shuttle, there will be a stronger delivery capacity to the Chinese Space Station.
Artwork shows the design of the Haolong space shuttle cargo-carrier.
Image credit: WeChat/ Aviation Industry Corporation of China
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
“We have now conducted large-scale experiments and are currently loading and verifying the status of the remaining individual machines, as well as conducting final testing. The overall test results are quite good,” said Wu Huiying, deputy chief designer of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft.
For an informative video focused on the Qingzhou supply ship, go to:
Posted in Space News
