Tianzhou 5 (Chinese: 天舟五号) was the fifth mission of the Tianzhou-class uncrewed cargo spacecraft, and the fourth resupply mission to the Tiangong Space Station. Like previous Tianzhou missions, the spacecraft was launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan, China on a Long March 7 rocket.[2] It was successfully placed into orbit on 12 November and docked to the Tiangong space station on the same day. The rendezvous and docking process lasted 2 hours and 7 minutes, setting a world record for the fastest rendezvous and docking between a spacecraft and a space station, surpassing Soyuz MS-17's 3 hours and 3 minutes.[3]
 A Tianzhou 3D model | |
| Mission type | Tiangong space station resupply |
|---|---|
| Operator | CNSA |
| COSPAR ID | 2022-152A |
| SATCAT no. | 54237 |
| Website | www |
| Mission duration | 304 days and 10 minutes |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Tianzhou-5 |
| Spacecraft type | Tianzhou |
| Manufacturer | China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation |
| Launch mass | 13,500 kg (29,800 lb) |
| Payload mass | 6,700 kg (14,800 lb) |
| Dimensions | 10.6 m × 3.35 m (34.8 ft × 11.0 ft) |
| Power | 2 |
| Expedition | |
| Space station | Tiangong space station |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 12 November 2022, 02:03 UTC[1] |
| Rocket | Long March 7 |
| Launch site | Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, LC-2 |
| Contractor | China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Deorbited |
| Decay date | 12 September 2023, 02:13 UTC |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Inclination | 41.5° |
| Docking with Tiangong space station | |
| Docking port | Tianhe Aft port |
| Docking date | 12 November 2022, 04:10 UTC |
| Undocking date | 5 May 2023, 07:26 UTC |
| Time docked | 174 days, 3 hours and 16 minutes |
| Docking with Tiangong space station (Relocation) | |
| Docking port | Tianhe Forward port[a] |
| Docking date | 5 June 2023, 19:10 UTC |
| Undocking date | 11 September 2023, 08:46 UTC |
| Time docked | 97 days, 13 hours and 36 minutes |
Spacecraft
editThe Tianzhou cargo spacecraft has several notable differences with the Tiangong-1 from which it is derived. It has only three segments of solar panels (against 4 for Tiangong), but has 4 maneuvering engines (against 2 for Tiangong).[4]
Notes
edit- ^ Tianzhou-5 was free flying until the departure of Shenzhou-15, and then docked at Tiangong's forward port.
References
edit- ^ China Spaceflight [@CNSpaceflight] (18 September 2022). "The next cargo spacecraft to resupply China Space Station, Tianzhou-5, has arrived at Wenchang for launch on Nov. 06. It also carries a 4U cubesat CAS-10 (XW-4) and will deploy on ~Dec. 15" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Rocket for Tianzhou 5 arrives at launch site". chinadailyhk. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
- ^ "Why China's Tianzhou 5 spacecraft launch is of global significance". SCMP. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ Baylor, Michael (20 May 2021). "Tianzhou 2". Next Spaceflight. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
