Tiangong-2

Mission Profile

Tiangong-2 is China's second space laboratory module, launched on 15 September 2016 aboard a Long March 2F from Jiuquan Space Launch Center as part of China's phased approach to developing a permanent space station. The 8.6-tonne module hosted the two-person Shenzhou 11 crew for 30 days — China's longest crewed mission at the time — and received the Tianzhou 1 cargo spacecraft to test automated rendezvous, docking, and propellant refueling procedures. Tiangong-2 conducted over 600 space science experiments and technology demonstrations during its three-year operational career before being deorbited in a controlled reentry over the Pacific on 19 July 2019. The lessons from Tiangong-2 directly informed the design and operations of the modular Tiangong Space Station now in permanent operation.