Tiangong-1

Mission Profile

Tiangong-1 was China's first space laboratory module, launched on 29 September 2011 aboard a Long March 2F rocket, serving as a target vehicle and prototype space station for China's crewed spaceflight program. It hosted the Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 missions totaling three crewed dockings, during which taikonauts conducted docking procedures, scientific experiments, and technology demonstrations including a docking by China's first female taikonaut Liu Yang. Tiangong-1 also performed unmanned dockings with Shenzhou 8 to validate automatic rendezvous systems. After ceasing data transmission in 2016, the module made an uncontrolled reentry over the South Pacific on 2 April 2018, having served as the crucial stepping stone that demonstrated China's ability to assemble and operate multi-module crewed space infrastructure.