China completes Tiangong space station

October 31 China sent to the Tiangong near-Earth space station, the 23-ton Mengtian is the third and last module. On November 1, it was successfully docked to the main port of the Tianhe base module, so now the station is fully assembled.

Mengtian is a science module without habitation blocks. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) will use it to carry out experiments in microgravity related to fluid physics, combustion and space technologies.

China plans to complete work on the station by the end of the year: they want to dock the new module to the Tianhe side port using a robotic arm. It was originally planned to add another Xiongtian telescope, but in the end it was decided to launch it separately into the same orbit in 2024.

Three astronauts, sent to the station back in July, are watching the docking of the modules. Their return to Earth is scheduled for December, to be replaced by Shenzhou-15 at the end of November, also with three astronauts. For several days, two crews will be at the Chinese station for the first time in its history.

Although the docking of the module was successful, there are concerns about the Long March-5 rocket that delivered it. Within a week, its first stage should return to Earth. Due to the nature of the design, it is impossible to control its flight, and it is not yet clear where it will land. Previously, fragments of Chinese missiles have already fallen in Malaysia, the west coast of Africa and the Indian Ocean.