Tianzhou 1 Cargo Spaceship Completes Autonomous Fast Rendezvous and Docking Test on Sept 12, 2017

Tianzhou 1 cargo spaceship, developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, completes the test of autonomous fast rendezvous and docking with the Tiangong II space lab on Sept 12, 2017. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

Tianzhou 1 cargo spaceship completes autonomous fast rendezvous and docking test on Sept 12, 2017

Tianzhou 1 cargo spaceship, developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, completed the test of autonomous fast rendezvous and docking with Tiangong II space lab on Sept 12, 2017.

It was one of the series of expansion projects after the success of the space lab's flight and was intended to verify fast rendezvous and docking capacity of the cargo spaceship and make full use of the benefits of the earlier success.

A large amount of food, water, oxygen and other supporting materials are needed to live for long periods in the space lab. Therefore, the cargo spaceship must be able to carry tons of materials into space.

The test shortened the preparation period for rendezvous and docking to 6.5 hours, much shorter than the previous two days, which laid a solid technical foundation for future development and construction of China's space lab.

(Executive editor: Zhang Tianyuan)