China launches Tianzhou-10 cargo craft to send space station supplies

CHINA launched the cargo craft Tianzhou-10 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Monday morning to deliver supplies, including artificial human embryos, ultra-thin solar cells and a greenhouse gas monitor, for its orbiting Tiangong space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency. 

The Long March-7 rocket, carrying Tianzhou-10, blasted off at 8:14 am (Beijing Time) from Wenchang, south China’s Hainan Province, the agency said. 

After about 10 minutes, Tianzhou-10 separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. Its solar panels soon unfolded. The agency declared the launch a complete success. 

At 1:11 pm (Beijing Time), Tianzhou-10 successfully docked at the rear docking port of Tianhe, the core module of China’s space station Tiangong. The Shenzhou-21 crew members onboard the space station will enter the cargo craft and transfer the payloads as scheduled. 

Tianzhou-10 is loaded with essential supplies, including one extravehicular spacesuit, consumables for the crew’s on-orbit stay, propellants, and payloads for scientific experiments. 

The cargo spacecraft delivered about 6.2 tonnes of supplies to orbit, comprising over 220 items. These cargoes are essential for sustaining the on-orbit operations and daily life of the Shenzhou-23 and Shenzhou-24 astronaut crews, as well as the space station’s routine operation and maintenance, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the spacecraft’s developer. 

The experimental cargo includes zebrafish embryos, mouse embryos, and stem cell-derived artificial human embryos. The artificial human embryos, though not true life forms and unable to develop into human babies, will help simulate the earliest stages of human development, according to reports from the state broadcaster CCTV. 

The embryo experiments in orbit will help establish a spacebased embryo research system spanning lower vertebrates to higher mammals. The biological research will provide insights into how the space environment, specifically microgravity and radiation, affects reproduction and development, laying a foundation for long-term human habitation in space. Among the payloads are flexible solar cells. With a thickness of just 80 micrometres — roughly the same as a human hair — these cells can be folded and rolled, allowing a greater number of solar panels to be packed into the same amount of space. Subjecting this new technology to the extreme space environment for real-world testing will help verify and improve its long-term power-generation stability, paving the way for supplying energy to China’s large-scale satellite internet constellations. — Xinhua

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