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China's Shenzhou-19 space mission returns to Earth

The Shenzhou-19 spacecraft was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China on October 30

BEIJING, April 30. /TASS/. The Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft with a crew of three taikonauts has safely returned to Earth after a six-month mission on the Chinese orbital station, China Central Television reported.

The return capsule carrying three taikonauts: Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The Shenzhou-19 spacecraft was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China on October 30.

China launched the Shenzhou-20 manned spacecraft on April 24. Taikonauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie replaced their colleagues at the orbiting station for another six-month mission.

The Chinese station is located at an altitude of about 400 kilometers and will operate for more than 10 years. It is designed for three people (up to six for short periods when crews rotate). The mass of the T-shaped complex (it is planned to expand it into a cross shape in the near future), which has three docking nodes and an airlock for space entry, is 66 tons, the volume of the compartments reaches 110 cubic meters. The orbital facility became operational in 2022 and has been available for international projects ever since.

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