Chinese astronauts training for space station crewed flights

By News Desk
March 05, 2021

BEIJING: China said Thursday a cohort of astronauts is training for four crewed missions this year as the country works to complete its first permanent orbiting space station.

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The station’s core module, christened Tianhe, could be launched as soon as next month, according to the China National Space Administration and foreign observers. The massive Long March-5B Y2 rocket and its payload were moved into place last month at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in tropical Hainan province for assembly and testing.

That launch would be the first of 11 missions over the next two years to finish constructing the station by the end of 2022. Two other modules will be launched later, along with four Tianzhou cargo supply mission and the four Shenzhou crewed missions. CNSA listed 12 astronauts training for the crewed missions, including veterans of previous Shenzhou flights, newcomers and women, though it wasn’t clear if there were others selected. Up to three crew members will reportedly live at a time in the the core module, which has docking ports to allow the attachment of scientific modules launched later.

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