• China’s third and final module docked with its permanent space station — Tiangong — on November 1 to further a more than decade-long effort to maintain a constant crewed presence in orbit.

• The uncrewed Mengtian module was launched atop China’s most powerful rocket, the Long March-5B, from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in the southern island province of Hainan on October 31.

• Mengtian joins Wentian as the second laboratory module for the station, collectively known as Tiangong. Both are connected to the Tianhe core module where the crew lives and works. 

• Mengtian weighs in at about 23 tonnes, is 17.9 metres (58.7 feet) long and has a diameter of 4.2 metres (13.8 feet). It will provide space for science experiments in zero gravity, an airlock for exposure to the vacuum of space, and a small robotic arm to support extravehicular payloads.

• In July, China launched Wentian, a laboratory module where scientific experiments will be performed.

• The completion of the Chinese space station, designed for a lifespan of at least 10 years, will be a milestone in China’s ambitions in Low Earth Orbit, with the International Space Station (ISS) potentially ceasing operation by the end of the decade.

China’s space station programme

• Work on the space station programme began a decade ago with the launch of a space lab Tiangong-1 in 2011, and later, Tiangong-2 in 2016.

• Both helped China test the programme’s space rendezvous and docking capabilities.

• China aims to become a major space power by 2030. By 2045, it hopes to establish a programme operating thousands of space flights a year and carrying tens of thousands of tonnes of cargo and passengers.

• It has ramped up its space programme with visits to the Moon, the launch of an uncrewed probe to Mars and the construction of its own space station.

• China began constructing its three-module space station in April 2021 with the launch of Tianhe — the first and biggest of the station’s three modules. 

• Once ready, China will be the only country to own a space station. The International Space Station (ISS) of Russia is a collaborative project of several countries.

• The China Space Station (CSS) is also expected to be a competitor to the ISS built by Russia. Observers say that the CSS may become the sole space station to remain in orbit once the aging ISS retires in the coming years.

• The significant feature of China’s under-construction space station is its two robotic arms, especially the long one over which the US has previously expressed concern over its ability to grab objects including satellites from space.

• The 10-metre-long arm was in action previously seen in action successfully grabbing and moving a 20 tonne Tianzhou-2 cargo ship in a test.

• The space station is designed to be a versatile space lab, capable of accommodating 25 experiment cabinets for scientific exploration.

• The lab modules are named Wentian and Mengtian. Wentian will be equipped to support life science research while Mengtian will focus on microgravity experiments. 

• Wentian will also have an airlock cabin for extravehicular trips, as well as short-term living quarters for astronauts during crew rotations.

• Wentian lab can simulate variable gravity environments to support the comparative study on the biological growth mechanism in different gravity conditions.

• The Mengtian lab module will be equipped with experiment cabinets to study the effects of microgravity, covering the physics of fluids, material science, combustion science and basic physics.

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