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Tiangong 1

retired

天宫一号

Human SpaceflightLEOCOSPAR 2011-053ALaunched 9/29/2011
Admin Edit
Mission & Launch
Launch Mission
Tiangong 1 Mission
Launch Vehicle
Long March 2F T
Launch Date
9/29/2011
Last Contact
3/21/2016
Orbit & Mass
Orbit Class
LEO
Altitude
341 km
Inclination
42.78 deg
Dry Mass
7,500 kg
Total Mass
8,500 kg
Payload Classification
Mission Type
Human Spaceflight
Payload Category
SS
Payload Class
C
Organizations
Operator
Chinese People’s Liberation Army
Manufacturer
China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)
Registry
COSPAR ID
2011-053A
UN Registration
ST/SG/SER.E/649
Track
Mentions
15
All verified mentions of this spacecraft in source documents.
0.0-5.0
Actions

The Tianzhou spacecraft design weighs 14,000 kilograms and is derived from China’s Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space stations.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0May 11, 2026Tianzhou-10 Cargo Delivery Heads for Tiangong in Earth Orbit! [Long March 7 Y11]

The Long March 2F/T 'T' variant uses a 4.2-meter-wide fairing that was previously used for Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space stations and modified to carry a spaceplane.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Feb 2, 2026What Do We Know About China's Reusable Spaceplane?

The current Tiangong Space Station is Tiangong-3, following China’s first two space stations, Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2.

GeneralValue 2.2Nov 18, 2025Replacement Shenzhou-22 Spacecraft to Launch in a Week

Mid-flight crewed Shenzhou undocking-docking has only been performed on Tiangong 1.

GeneralCapabilityValue 3.0Nov 1, 2025(And for anyone asking, MZ-1 wasn't listed as a mission that will be visiting during Shenzhou-21 so any launch before May 2026 can be ruled out) iirc mid-flight crewed shenzhou undocking-docking was only done on Tiangong 1, so I doubt it'll be done (twice) there.

The uncontrolled reentries of Skylab in 1979 and Tiangong-1 in 2018 are notorious instances of space debris falling to Earth.

GeneralValue 2.0Sep 5, 2023The international community is not prepared for a future in space

Liu Yang is 43 years old and previously flew on Shenzhou-9 to visit Tiangong-1 in 2012.

GovernanceValue 2.0Jun 5, 2022Shenzhou-14 crewed mission arrives at Chinese space station

China’s Tiangong-1 made an uncontrolled reentry in 2018 that burned up over the South Pacific after losing contact with the spacecraft.

PlanGeneralValue 3.0May 9, 2021Long March 5B falls into Indian Ocean after world follows rocket reentry

Tiangong-1 experienced an uncontrolled re-entry in April 2018 after China lost contact with and control of the experimental space lab in 2016.

GeneralValue 4.0Jul 19, 2019China’s Tiangong-2 space lab reenters over South Pacific

Tiangong-2 was a more advanced version of the Tiangong-1 space lab, which launched in 2011.

CapabilityPlanValue 3.0Jul 19, 2019China’s Tiangong-2 space lab reenters over South Pacific

Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 were designed as steppingstones for developing and verifying technologies for larger 20-metric-ton modules for the planned Chinese Space Station.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.2Jul 19, 2019China’s Tiangong-2 space lab reenters over South Pacific

Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 were designed to verify technologies for larger 20-metric-ton modules for the planned Chinese Space Station (CSS).

PlanCapabilityValue 3.5Jul 12, 2019China set to carry out controlled deorbiting of Tiangong-2 space lab

Tiangong-2 is a more advanced version of the Tiangong-1 space lab launched in 2011.

CapabilityValue 2.5Jul 12, 2019China set to carry out controlled deorbiting of Tiangong-2 space lab

Tiangong-1 lost contact and underwent an uncontrolled re-entry in April 2018 and had a mass of 8.2 metric tons.

GeneralCapabilityValue 4.0Jul 12, 2019China set to carry out controlled deorbiting of Tiangong-2 space lab

Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-1 were designed as stepping stones for developing and verifying technologies for 20-metric-ton modules for the planned Chinese Space Station.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Jun 20, 2018China appears to be preparing to deorbit its Tiangong-2 space lab

Tiangong-1 suffered an anomaly in early 2016 that apparently ended contact with ground controllers and led to an uncontrolled re-entry on 2018-04-02.

GeneralValue 4.0Jun 20, 2018China appears to be preparing to deorbit its Tiangong-2 space lab