Written by Lisa Murimi
China has accelerated preparations for its next Shenzhou mission after a damaged spacecraft at the Tiangong space station forced a rare disruption to the country’s otherwise smooth-running crewed space programme, state broadcaster CCTV announced on Saturday.
The Shenzhou-22 spacecraft, originally scheduled for launch next year, will now be deployed six months ahead of time, and notably, without astronauts on board.
The emergency launch aims to restore a safe return option for the three astronauts currently living on Tiangong, who are now without an operational escape vessel following damage to Shenzhou-20.
China’s Shenzhou missions have been meticulously timed and largely incident-free since 2021. That record was broken ten days ago when Shenzhou-20, docked at the station, sustained damage believed to have been caused by space debris.
The impact cracked a window on the return capsule, forcing the three Shenzhou-20 crew members to delay their return by nine days while engineers assessed the situation.
On Friday, the astronauts safely returned to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft. But their departure left the newly arrived crew, who docked two weeks earlier, without a functioning emergency return vehicle, an unacceptable risk for any long-duration mission.
To close this safety gap, China is sending Shenzhou-22 ahead of schedule. The vessel will carry a full shipment of supplies, food, and technical equipment to Tiangong, and will serve as the new return capsule for the current crew, who are expected to remain in orbit until April 2026 as part of their six-month rotation.
“Preparations for the Shenzhou-22 mission have commenced,” CCTV reported, emphasising that the accelerated launch is critical to “ensuring mission continuity and crew safety.”
Tiangong can host a maximum of six astronauts, but only for short periods. Its long-term capacity is limited to three astronauts at a time, underscoring why a functioning return craft is a strict operational requirement.
China has yet to disclose the full extent of the damage to Shenzhou-20 or detail its disposal plan. Space analysts suggest the vessel may be undocked and deliberately deorbited over the Pacific Ocean—standard procedure for compromised spacecraft.
