TEDA-made Long March-5B Y2 Rocket Carrying Tianhe Module Launched

China sent into space the core module of its space station on April 29, kicking off a series of key launch missions that aim to complete the construction of the station by the end of next year. The Long March-5B Y2 rocket, made in the Industrialization Base for China’s Next-gen Carrier Rocket in TEDA West, carrying the Tianhe module, blasted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan province at 11:23 am.

The core module, Tianhe, has a total length of 16.6 meters, a maximum diameter of 4.2 meters and a takeoff mass of 22.5 tons, and is the largest spacecraft developed by China.

The module is equipped with three docking hatches reserved for visiting manned or cargo spacecraft and two berthing locations used to connect with space laboratories. There is also a hatch for astronauts’ extravehicular activities.

The station will operate in the low-Earth orbit at an altitude from 340 km to 450 km. It has a designed lifespan of 10 years, but experts believe it could last more than 15 years with appropriate maintenance and repairs.