By Liangping Gao and Yew Lun Tian

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will launch a spacecraft on Sunday carrying three astronauts to the core module of the unfinished Chinese language area station, the place they may work and reside for six months as development enters superior phases.

A Lengthy March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft is ready to blast off from Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Centre within the northwestern province of Gansu at 10:44 a.m. native time (0244 GMT) on Sunday, a China Manned Area Company official instructed a information convention on Saturday.

Mission commander Chen Dong will probably be accompanied by Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe aboard Shenzhou, that means “Divine Vessel” in Chinese language.

“All preparations for the launch are principally prepared,” stated Lin Xiqiang, an company official.

Shenzhou-14 would be the third of 4 crewed missions – and the seventh of a complete of 11 missions – wanted to finish the area station by the tip of the 12 months.

China started setting up its three-module area station in April 2021 with the launch of Tianhe – the primary and largest of the station’s three modules.

Tianhe, barely bigger than a metro bus, will kind the dwelling quarters of visiting astronauts as soon as the T-shaped area station is accomplished.

Following Shenzhou-14, the remaining two modules – the laboratory cabins Wentian and Mengtian – will probably be launched in July and October, respectively.

Wentian will characteristic a robotic arm, an airlock cabin for journeys exterior of the station, and dwelling quarters for a further three astronauts throughout crew rotations.

The Shenzhou-14 crew will assist with the setup of Wentian and Mengtian and conduct performance checks on each modules.

The area station can have a designed lifespan of a decade. At 180 tonnes, it will likely be barely heavier than Russia’s decommissioned Mir, and about 20% of the Worldwide Area Station by mass.