HAIKOU /China/, May 7. /TASS/. The Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft was delivered to the launch pad of the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the northeast coast of Hainan Island and will soon be sent to China's orbital station. This was announced Saturday by the China Manned Space Program Office.
The cargo carrier and the CZ-7 rocket intended for its launch are in good technical condition, it said. They are on schedule to undergo the last stage of inspection before launch.
Tianzhou 4 is expected to be sent into orbit on the night of May 10. It will provide everything the station needs for the astronauts, who will be delivered there in early June by the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft. It is planned to be launched from the Jiuquan Space Launch Center (located in the north of China).
The Chinese station is at an altitude of about 400 kilometers, will operate for more than 10 years and is designed for three people. The mass of the T-shaped complex, which has three docking units and an airlock for getting into space, is 66 tons, the volume of compartments reaches 110 cubic meters. The orbital facility will be operational this year and will be available for international projects starting next year.
The Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Center is one of China's four space launch pads and is the only place in the country where technical conditions allow the launch of the CZ-7A (Chang Zheng 7-a) - the longest (60.7 meters) rocket of national design. Other new-generation Chinese rockets, which only Hainan is capable of launching, are the commercial CZ-8, as well as the CZ-5 and CZ-5B (Chang Zheng-5 and Chang Zheng-5-b). They are the most massive (870 and 837.5 tons, respectively) of all counterparts developed in the PRC. In addition, the spaceport is a popular attraction, which in 2021 attracted more than 8 million tourists who spent 6 billion yuan (more than $942 million) during their visit.