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Tiangong-1

File:Model_of_the_Chinese_Tiangong_Shenzhou.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Tiangong-1

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Also known as Heavenly Palace 1, Tiangong 1, Tiangong1

Tiangong-1 () was China's first prototype space station. It orbited Earth from September 2011 to April 2018, serving as both a crewed laboratory and an experimental testbed to demonstrate orbital rendezvous and docking capabilities during its two years of active operational life.

Key facts

Chinese.s
天宫一号
Space station.station
Tiangong-1天宫一号
Space station.station_image
Model of the Chinese Tiangong Shenzhou.jpg
Space station.station_image_size
300px
Space station.station_image_caption
Model of Tiangong-1 with docked Shenzhou crewed spacecraft.
Space station.configuration_image
Tiangong_1_drawing_(cropped).png
Space station.configuration_caption
Plan diagram of Tiangong-1 with solar panels extended
Space station.COSPAR_ID
2011-053A
Space station.SATCAT
37820
Space station.launch
29 September 2011,13:16:03.507 UTC
Space station.launch_pad
Jiuquan, LA-4/SLS-1
Space station.carrier_rocket
Long March 2F/G
Space station.status
Deorbited
Space station.reentry
2 April 2018, 00:16 UTC 2 April 2018 00:15 UTC (China Manned Space Engineering Office)
Space station.occupied
20 days, 18.5 hours(Hatch open to hatch closed)
Chinese.title
Tiangong-1
Chinese.altname
Target Vehicle
Chinese.showflag
stp

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
space station
Official name
天宫一号目标飞行器
Country
China
Followed by
Tiangong-2
Mass
8506
Image
Tiangong 1 drawing (cropped).png
Show 8 more facts
Commons category
Tiangong-1
UTC date of spacecraft launch
2011-09-29
space launch vehicle
Long March 2F
time of object orbit decay
2018-04-02
crew members
Wang Yaping
orbital inclination
42
apoapsis
362
periapsis
355
Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

~17 min read

Encyclopedic overview

18 sections
Contents
  • Design and development
  • Structure
  • Onboard facilities
  • Mission profile
  • Background
  • Launch
  • Orbital transfers and testing
  • Autonomous orbital docking
  • Crewed missions
  • Preparations
  • Shenzhou 9 (Expedition 1)
  • Shenzhou 10 (Expedition 2)
  • Post-mission
  • Re-entry
  • Program developments
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

Tiangong-1 () was China's first prototype space station. It orbited Earth from September 2011 to April 2018, serving as both a crewed laboratory and an experimental testbed to demonstrate orbital rendezvous and docking capabilities during its two years of active operational life.

Launched uncrewed aboard a Long March 2F launch vehicle on 29 September 2011, it was the first operational component of the Tiangong program, which launched a larger, modular station into orbit in 2021. Tiangong-1 was initially projected to be deorbited in 2013, to be replaced over the following decade by the larger Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3 space stations, but it orbited until 2 April 2018.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Tiangong-1” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (16)

On the map

8 mapped locations