BEIJING, April 16. /TASS/. The descent module of China’s Shenzhou 13 crewed spacecraft with three taikonauts on board landed in northern China on Saturday, China’s Central Television reported.
The capsule touched the ground at around 10:00 local time (05:00 Moscow time) at the landing site in Dongfeng, in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The spaceflight lasted around nine hours.
According to a live broadcast, search and rescue units arrived almost immediately, and the module was opened. All crew members were reported to be in good health.
China Manned Space Agency declared the mission a success.
"The Shenzhou 13 manned mission ended with full success," the governmental agency said in a statement.
The Shenzhou-13 manned spacecraft was launched atop a Changzheng (Long March) 2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan launch center in the country's north on October 16, 2021. It undocked from the core module of China’s Tianhe orbital station at 00:44 Beijing time on Saturday (19:44 Moscow time on Friday). The crew spent 183 days in space.
China’s national space station is operating at an altitude of about 400 km above Earth and has a service life of over ten years. It can accommodate three astronauts or up to six people upon a crew change. The T-shape orbital outpost that integrates three docking ports and an airlock weighs 66 tonnes and its total indoor space is 110 cubic meters. The space station is expected to switch to its full operation in 2022 and will be available for international projects, the Chinese authorities say.