By 
November 5th, 2025
Image credit: CMSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
China’s Shenzhou-20 crew is not returning to Earth as scheduled, due to a possible impact from space debris.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced the decision, with an impact analysis and risk assessment now being done.
The trio of astronauts — Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie — have stayed in orbit for more than six months.
China’s Tiangong space station as imaged by MAXAR satellite.
Image credit: MAXAR
Protective shielding
Over several spacewalks taken by China’s station crew members, a number of locations on the orbital complex has been beefed up by protective shielding to guard against space debris impacts.
Meanwhile, retrieval teams that will pick up the Shenzhou-20 crew after their return to Earth have been busily rehearsing different search and rescue scenarios, including night-time exercises, and are fully prepared for the crew recovery.
The Dongfeng landing site is within Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in north China.
Recovery crew training.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Posted in Space News
