China Sending Three Astronauts To Its New Space Station Next Month

A Long March 7 rocket carrying China's Tianzhou-2 cargo craft lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan province

China successfully launched the cargo mission for its new space station this weekend. Now the next step is to send three astronauts for a three-month mission.

China's Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft successfully docked with the Tianhe core module of its new space station after launching from Hainan on Saturday, state media said. According to Xinhua, it carried over 160 small and large packages, including two tons of propellant, science equipment as well as supplies and food for astronauts.

"As the ancient Chinese said, to carry out an important task, supplies like rations and forage should go ahead of troops and horses," Xinhua said.

Now that supplies have arrived, China is already preparing to send three unnamed astronauts in June to begin a three-month mission, The Associated Press (AP) reported, citing Yang Liwei, a space official who was also the nation's first astronaut in orbit.

In comments to China Central Television on Saturday, Yang did not specify who the astronauts will be, but noted that the manned Shenzhou-12 mission will have an all-male crew. However, further missions "all will have" women, he added.

Once in orbit, the astronauts will have to unpack the supplies that Tianzhou-2 carried, which included their "living and working materials." It also carried two spacesuits that the astronauts need for "extra-vehicular" activities as they will have to practice for spacewalks two at a time, Yang was cited as saying by AP.

The mission also carried spare parts for life support and even traditional Chinese food such as Kung Bao chicken and shredded pork.

The Shenzhou 12 capsule carrying the crew will be launched from the Jiuquan base in China’s northwest in June, Yang said. The space agency plans a total of 11 launches to complete the construction of the space station before it becomes fully operational in 2022.

The International Space Station (ISS), for instance, took 10 years and more than 30 missions to assemble, the first segment of which was launched in 1998. Its first crew -- comprising astronaut Bill Shepherd and cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev -- arrived in 2000 and stayed there for a few months.

Tianzhou-2 is so far docked to the rear docking port of the Tianhe module, Xinhua said, and the manned Shenzhou-12 will dock at its front end when it arrives. After the Shenzhou-12 returns to Earth with the three astronauts, Tianzhou-2 will fly to the front of the core module to test the node’s in-orbit refueling.