By 
May 11th, 2023
Image credit: GLOBALink/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
A China-launched cargo craft has docked with the country’s space station, the first link-up since the orbital facility entered the application and development stage.
The Tianzhou-6 supply ship was lofted by a Long March-7 Y7 carrier rocket on Wednesday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China’s Hainan Province.
With the cargo craft now attached to the station, the current three-person Shenzhou-15 crew will enter the supply ship and transfer just-arrived payloads.
Image credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Packed with payloads
According to China news sources, there are roughly 260 packages with a combined weight of nearly 5.8 metric tons, including living necessities enough for a three-member crew for 280 days.
There are 98 packages of science payloads, with a combined weight of 1,574 pounds (714 kilograms), including new equipment, spare parts and experiment-related materials. These payloads are slated to be utilized in 29 scientific experiments and technological tests, from life sciences, biology and fluid physics in microgravity, to combustion and material sciences.
Shenzhou 15 crew.
Image credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Tianzhou-6 also carries 1.7 tons of propellant, of which 1,543 pounds (700 kilograms) will be fed into the Tiangong space station enabling engine firings to maintain the outpost’s orbit.
Mini-satellite to be released
According to reports, the cargo craft will also release a mini-satellite, developed by Dalian University of Technology.
The satellite is reportedly a high-resolution Earth remote sensing CubeSat that weighs 37 pounds (17 kilograms). This CubeSat is to verify high-resolution remote sensing technologies, a domestic “OpenHarmony” operating system, advanced satellite components and “ultralight multiple satellite deployers.”
The experimental Dalian-1 CubeSat launched onboard the Tianzhou-6 cargo craft.
Image credit: Dalian University of Technology
“The main payload of the satellite is a high-resolution multispectral camera, capable of achieving low-cost sub-meter high-resolution observation on ocean and Earth in orbit,” one story notes, quoting professor Xia Guangqing, chief designer of the satellite told China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Image credit: CCTV/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Re-docking older supply ship
Meanwhile, the in-space and loitering older cargo craft — Tianzhou-5 – is set to re-dock with the Earth-orbiting facility in the coming weeks for further use. It is to be filled with wastes from the current crewed mission, said Jia Dongyong, chief designer for the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft system under the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST).
Image credit: Shujianyang Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Use of the older cargo vessel, re-docked after its separation, is not always done, Jia pointed out.
Tianzhou-5 will rendezvous and re-dock with the space station’s forward port after the departure of the Shenzhou-15 crew who will return to the Earth after their six-month space journey end later this month, Jia told China Central Television (CCTV).
Image credit: CMS
Launched on Nov. 12, 2022, Tianzhou-5’s lifespan is yet to end, Jia added. “Besides, the space inside the orbiting space station is limited and precious, and the Tianzhou-5 has not been filled. So it is going to dock with the forward port of the space station, and will be parked there in use for a period of time. The cargo craft will end up with being packed with wastes.”
Go to these new videos showcasing the supply ship arrival at:
Posted in Space News
