A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou XIV spacecraft blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China on June 5, 2022. (WANG JIANGBO / PROVIDED TO CHINADAILY.COM.CN)
The successful launch of the Shenzhou XIV spaceship from Jiuquan, Gansu province, on Sunday morning, and its successful docking with Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station about seven hours later, mark the beginning of China's third crewed mission to its space station.
During their six-month stay in Tianhe, the three astronauts－Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe－will help with the docking, setting up and testing of two lab modules, Wentian and Mengtian, that are due to be launched in July and October.
The transformation of the space station from the current single-module structure into a three-module space laboratory will provide a larger-scale platform for scientific experiments in microgravity.
Another three astronauts are due to be sent to the space station at the end of the current mission to work and live with the crew for five to 10 days, which will be the first crew rotation in space and bring the number of astronauts in space to a record six at the same time.
The Tiangong space station is scheduled to be fully crewed by the end of next year and operational for about 15 years from then on.
After the space station's operations are normalized, large-scale scientific research projects are planned with the aim of not only furthering understanding of the universe but also helping to promote sustainable development on Earth.
Despite being a latecomer to space, with the huge input of the country and productive international cooperation, China has proved to be not only a keen learner but also a brave explorer and a true innovator in its space endeavors－it successfully landed the first exploratory rover on the far side of the moon in 2020－and its space ambitions span far into the future with grand plans for space exploration, research and commercialization.
That the country has been making one achievement after another with its space missions reflects the rapid development of its aerospace sector thanks to its institutional strengths. Adopting a results-oriented model, hundreds of institutes, universities, labs and companies are involved in China's space cause. Their achievements in advancing China's space cause also produce tangible benefits for the whole nation in the form of transferrable research results.
The remarkable achievements China has made in space exploration are expected to attract more young people to dedicate their talents to the meaningful cause that benefits humankind as a whole.