Rocket for Tianzhou 3 mission arrives at launch site

The Long March 7 carrier rocket that will be used to send the Tianzhou 3 cargo ship to China's space station arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Monday morning, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

In brief statement, the agency said that the rocket and the spaceship will be assembled at the coastal launch complex and then undergo final tests before its flight to the space station, which is called Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace.

Meanwhile, the Shenzhou XIII spacecraft and its rocket are undergoing technical checks at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China for the upcoming Shenzhou XIII crewed mission, which is scheduled to transport three astronauts to Tiangong in October, the agency noted.

Materials and fuel carried by Tianzhou 3 will support Tiangong's operations and resupply the astronauts on the ongoing Shenzhou XII mission, as well as supply their peers on Shenzhou XIII.

Both Tianzhou 3 and Shenzhou XIII are part of the Tiangong program, which aims to complete construction of a three-component space station in low-Earth orbit before the end of 2022.

On May 29, Tianzhou 2 was launched at Wenchang on a Long March 7, becoming the first craft to dock with Tiangong's core module — Tianhe, or Harmony of Heavens.

With a designed life of more than 1 year, Tianzhou 2 carried 6.8 metric tons of supplies to Tianhe, including 2 tons of propellants, 160 packages containing supplies and materials for experiments, and two 100-some-kilogram extravehicular suits for astronauts to perform activities outside the core module.

A Tianzhou cargo spaceship consists of two parts — a cargo cabin and a propulsion section. The vehicle is 10.6 meters long and has a diameter of 3.35 meters. With a liftoff weight of 13.5 metric tons, it is able to transport up to 6.9 tons of supplies to the space station.

China's most adventurous space endeavor, Tiangong will consist of three main components — a core module attached to two space labs — and will have a combined weight of nearly 70 metric tons. The station is scheduled to function for about 15 years, mission planners have said.