Over the weekend, Chinese state media reported that the China National Space Administration had moved its Shenzhou spacecraft to a launch site in inner Mongolia ahead of a planned launch on 5 June. The craft will be sent into space atop a Long March 2F carrier rocket.
The flight will mark the ninth crewed Chinese spaceflight and the fourteenth flight of the Shenzhou program. The spacecraft will carry three People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) 'taikonauts' on the third flight to the Tianhe core module, the first module of the Tiangong space station.
Tianhe was first launched into orbit in April last year, with three Chinese astronauts entering the module some months later.
Following the upcoming mission, China will launch one of the station’s lab components in July this year and the second in October.
State-run media outlet China Daily reported: “After the space labs, the Tianzhou 5 cargo craft and the Shenzhou XV crew are scheduled...