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Shenzhou-18

The Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China, atop the Long March-2F Y18 carrier rocket on 8:59 pm on April 25, 2024, carrying taikonauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu as well as nearly 100 experimental projects to the Tiangong space station. Following a smooth 10-minute flight, the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft successfully entered its planned orbit.

After entering its orbit, the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft adopted an autonomous rapid rendezvous, successfully docking with the Tianhe core module's radial docking port approximately 6.5 hours post-launch. This marked the formation of a three-ship, three-module complex. Radial docking is a critical part of this mission. Compared to the more familiar forward and backward rendezvous and docking tasks, radial docking is "more like a complex action movie," officials with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), China's leading space contractor, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"The hundred-ton class assembly of the space station could obstruct the spacecraft's measurement sensors, and there will be mutual impact of plumes from the station's engines… These will all pose significant challenges for radial docking. To eliminate the risks, we have minimized performance parameter deviations at each stage and verified that the docking mechanism has the capture and buffer capability under 31 complex conditions," the CASC said in a statement.

The Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft is the second in the space station's application and development phase to implement radial docking. Prior to this mission, Shenzhou-16 had already successfully completed radial docking with the Chinese space station on May 30, 2023. The current radial docking will further mark the maturity of China's independently developed space rendezvous and docking GNC (Guidance, Navigation, and Control) technology, said CNSA in its statement.

As manned missions to Tiangong have become normalized, more than 90 experiments are scheduled to be carried out in and outside of the space station during Shenzhou-18's six-month stay. These experiments include various fields such as microgravity basic physics, space materials science, space life science, aerospace medicine, and aerospace technology, CMSA spokesperson Lin Xiqiang said Wednesday while detailing the mission one day prior to the launch.