By Liu Shiyao, Shi Lei, People’s Daily
Before dawn on May 11, a Long March-7 carrier rocket launched from China’s Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan, successfully sending the Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft into its preset orbit.
The Tianzhou series serves as a vital supply carrier for China’s space station. Since the maiden flight of Tianzhou-1 in April 2017, the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft program has entered its 10th year.
Over the past decade, ten successful missions have demonstrated relentless innovation and technological breakthroughs. China has steadily enhanced its capabilities in space cargo transport and in-orbit resupply, providing robust support for its space program.
What new supplies dose this “space delivery” carry? What scientific experiments will follow on China’s space station?
Tianzhou-10 carries more than 6 tons of cargo, including daily essentials and work materials for the Shenzhou-23 and Shenzhou-24 astronaut crews, as well as instruments, spare parts, and maintenance equipment for the space station. In total, the shipment comprises more than 220 items for astronaut systems, station operations, cargo spacecraft functions, and space applications.
Notably, the craft delivers a third-generation extravehicular spacesuit — replacing current models — and a new space treadmill for astronaut fitness. It also carries 700 kg of propellant to replenish the station.
Tianzhou spacecraft perform irreplaceable roles: delivering supplies and propellants, supporting experiments, returning waste to Earth, and assisting with station orbit and attitude adjustments while docked.
Tianzhou-10 will remain docked for up to 12 months — a record duration. Previous missions (Tianzhou-2 to Tianzhou-5) typically stayed for six months. Starting with Tianzhou-6, enhanced capabilities allowed docking periods to extend to 9-10 months. This extension reduces launch frequency and operational costs while demanding higher reliability standards. To ensure success, the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) team optimized designs and rigorously tested systems and equipment.
Tianzhou-10 carries the largest number of experimental payloads in the series’ history.
The spacecraft holds six experimental payloads, the highest number since the completion of the China space station. These payloads will support research in microgravity science, fluid physics, aerospace technology and other fields.
Tianzhou-10 is capable of hour-level Earth-to-space delivery.
The craft carries biologically sensitive samples requiring low-temperature storage, which demand ultra-timely transportation. To ensure their freshness, the Tianzhou team adopted an hour-level rapid delivery solution. After the spacecraft was transported to the launch tower, temperature-sensitive cargo was loaded at the tower and placed inside the craft’s refrigerator. Just hours after launch and docking, astronauts can retrieve and use the samples, a vivid example of China’s increasingly refined space supply support capability.
The arrival of the “space delivery” has paved the way for a new batch of space science experiments.
According to Gong Yongsheng, a researcher at the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 17 standard cargo packages and one cell life support device were sent to the space via Tianzhou-10, totaling 67 sets of research equipment with a combined weight of 768.2 kilograms.
Once transferred to the space station, these supplies will support 41 scientific research projects covering space life science, biotechnology, and microgravity physics. A host of high-profile experiments will be carried out in orbit, including high-resolution greenhouse gas monitoring and space embryo development research.
Tianzhou missions: a decade of space innovation in China
