Overview
- State media said Shenzhou-22 will launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to bolster the space station’s safety posture.
- The spacecraft will fly without astronauts to avoid exceeding Tiangong’s ideal long-term crew size of three.
- Shenzhou-22 is replacing Shenzhou-21, which departed about six months early because another docked vehicle was found damaged.
- The early return left Tiangong’s three astronauts without a flightworthy capsule for roughly 10 days, an unprecedented gap since full operations began in 2022.
- Experts have suggested the damaged Shenzhou-20 could be undocked and deorbited over the Pacific, while the next crewed mission is reported as likely around April as Shenzhou-23.