China is sending 3 astronauts to a new space station

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Three astronauts took off for China’s near-completed space station on Tuesday, marking the beginning of the country’s long-term presence in space.

It’s a major achievement for China’s ambitious space program, which has explored the far side of the moon and Mars. The milestone also means that the aging International Space Station’s role as the only place for continuous human habitation in Earth orbit is coming to an end.

The three astronauts lifted off Tuesday at 11:08 p.m. local time (10:08 a.m. ET) aboard the Shenzhou-15 spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert of Inner Mongolia. The Shenzhou-15 spacecraft is expected to dock with the Tiangong space station about 6.5 hours after launch.

The arrival of the three astronauts — Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu — marks the crew’s first rotation on the space station, with two teams overlapping five to 10 days ahead of the Shenzhou-14 crew, which landed on the station in June , returns to earth.

The Shenzhou-15 mission will complete the construction of the orbital outpost, which is expected by the end of December, and start the first phase “of its application and development,” said Ji Qiming, assistant to the director of the China Manned Space Agency, at a news conference on May 12 Monday, according to state media Xinhua.

During the mission, the crew will also conduct more than 40 experiments and tests in space science research, space medicine and space technology, as well as three to four off-vehicle activities — conducted by astronauts in space suits, according to state media.

Once construction is complete, the space station is expected to last 15 years. According to the CMSA, China plans to launch two manned missions and two cargo missions to the station each year.

Tiangong, meaning Heavenly Palace, is smaller than the International Space Station but similar in its modular design. The new space station will usually accommodate three astronauts instead of six.

NASA officials have announced plans to decommission the ISS, which is a collaboration between the US, Russia, Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency, in 2030.

However, Russia has threatened to leave the ISS by 2024, which would complicate the operation of the ISS, said Dr. Stefania Paladini, Lecturer in Economics and Global Security at Birmingham City University in the UK.

“There is no clarity about the future of the ISS after 2024. While the US seems determined to extend its lifespan to 2030, Russia threatened to withdraw its participation after that date (which) would make it extremely difficult to continue the ISS to fly,” said Paladini, author of The New Frontiers of Space: Economic Implications, Security Issues and Evolving Scenarios.

“The Chinese space station may remain the only human presence in Earth orbit for a while.”

The new space station is expected to host about 1,000 scientific experiments during its lifetime.

Most of the experiments taking place aboard the Tiangong will involve research from China, but the country has invited experiments from international researchers, including how cancerous tumors respond to microgravity.

China’s astronauts have long been banned from the ISS due to US political objections and legal restrictions. However, CMSA astronauts have been training with their counterparts at the European Space Agency.

It’s not clear if China would welcome astronauts from other countries to its space station, but Molly Silk, a PhD student at the University of Manchester in the UK who focuses on China’s space program, said she thinks it’s very likely that international astronauts would visit the space station in the coming years.

“Several European astronauts learned Chinese to better work with their Chinese counterparts, suggesting that a visit to the CSS might be an option. Pakistan has also tried to coordinate with China to send its first astronaut into space,” she said.

“This project shows the world that China has both the vision and the ability to pull off such an immensely challenging feat. The CSS will not only allow China and other nations to conduct experiments in space, but will also act as a key checkpoint for China’s planned international research base on the moon.”

Earlier this year, the space station’s two laboratory modules — Wentian and Mengtian — docked alongside the Tianhe core cabin, the astronauts’ main living quarters.

The Mengtian lab was launched by China’s massive Long March 5B rocket, the remains of which re-entered Earth’s atmosphere unchecked in early November.

It was the fourth uncontrolled re-entry of a Long March 5B rocket since the Chinese Space Agency began flying two years ago, as the vehicle was designed without the necessary equipment to pilot itself to a safe landing.

NASA officials have criticized China for taking unnecessary risks. Tuesday’s launch, however, affected China’s smaller Long March-2F rocket, which is used for human spaceflight and which experts have previously said is less likely to produce dangerous debris.