Chinese astronauts make delayed return to Earth after damage by space debris

Three Chinese astronauts stranded at the nation’s space station due to debris finally returned to Earth on Friday afternoon, November 14, 2025.

The delay was caused by the tiny chunks of space debris, which are believed to have struck the return vehicle of a Chinese crew of three astronauts who were due to return to Earth following an extended mission to orbit.

The spacecraft that struck space debris was the Shenzhou-20 capsule, which in April transported a crew of three Chinese astronauts to the space station, Tiangong.

According to CMSA, the crew undocked from Tiangong aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft and landed at the Dongfeng site in Inner Mongolia at 4:40 p.m. local time (3:40 a.m. ET).

The astronauts onboard were Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie.

The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Friday, November 14, “tiny cracks” were found in a small window of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft’s return capsule, as reported by Reuters.

The mission is part of China’s ambitious Shenzhou program; it transports crews of three to and from the Tiangong space station for six-month missions dedicated to scientific research and maintenance.

As per the protocols, the astronauts returned to Earth on the same vessel that delivered their replacements to the space station.

The dilemma is this: by using the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft to return to Earth, the departing crew has left the new crew without a vehicle for their own journey home.