Chinese astronauts install debris protection aboard Tiangong space station
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
The Shenzhou-21 spacecraft, with a crew of three astronauts, lifting off in the Gobi desert in north-west China in October 2025.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
- Space debris cracked Shenzhou-20's window, delaying the return of its crew from Tiangong, and forcing an emergency Shenzhou-21 launch.
- Shenzhou-21 astronauts installed debris protection on Tiangong and inspected the damaged Shenzhou-20, highlighting space junk risks.
- The damaged Shenzhou-20 will return unmanned for examination and may receive further reinforcement from future spacewalks.
AI generated
BEIJING – Chinese astronauts have installed protection against “space junk” aboard the permanently inhabited station Tiangong, according to China’s manned spaceflight authorities, a month after a docked vessel was damaged for the first time.
Early in November, a tiny piece of debris travelling at high velocity cracked the window of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft’s return capsule, right before the vessel was set to leave Tiangong carrying a trio of Chinese astronauts back to Earth.
The damage was considered severe enough that China’s space authorities made the unprecedented decision to delay the return and then sent the crew back on the only other available vessel, the Shenzhou-21. This triggered the country’s first emergency launch mission, as the crew who had arrived at the station on the Shenzhou-21 were left without a flightworthy vessel for 11 days.
The entire saga, unprecedented for China’s rapidly advancing space programme, highlighted the risks posed by space junk to countries aiming to explore, and eventually colonise, the reaches beyond Earth.
The disintegration of old, defunct satellites, mishaps with active ones and anti-satellite weapon tests can create vast fields of space debris that remain in orbit for years.
To prevent a repeat of November’s emergency, two members of the Shenzhou-21’s three-person crew went on a spacewalk on Dec 9, installing the debris protection using Tiangong’s robotic arm, according to a statement from the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO).
The astronauts also inspected and photographed the damaged window of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, which is still docked at Tiangong, waiting to be sent back uncrewed to a landing site in China, after which it will be further examined.
The vessel’s cracked window could be reinforced by the Shenzhou-21 crew on future spacewalks, according to CMSEO. REUTERS
