Overview
- An airspace closure notice points to a Long March 2F liftoff at about 11:10 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 24 (0410 UTC Nov. 25) from Jiuquan to send Shenzhou-22 to Tiangong.
- The spacecraft will arrive without a crew to serve as an emergency return vehicle and to deliver food and equipment for the three Shenzhou-21 astronauts.
- Zhang Lu, Zhang Hongzhang and Wu Fei remain on the station without their originally assigned lifeboat after the Shenzhou-20 crew used Shenzhou-21 to return home.
- CMSEO says Shenzhou-20’s window crack was likely caused by orbital debris and the craft will stay in orbit for experiments before deorbiting at a later date.
- The Shenzhou-20 crew landed Nov. 14 after 204 days in space and are now in post‑flight quarantine, as officials note launch-readiness depends on phasing, pad availability and range conditions.