China Prepares to Launch Shenzhou-21 Crewed Spacecraft | China Space Station
The combination of the Shenzhou-21 crew spacecraft and its Long March-2F carrier rocket was transferred to the launch area of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on the morning of October 24, 2025, as the country prepares to send another crew to its orbiting space station.
Carried by a mobile launch platform, the combination moved along 1.5 km of seamless rail toward the launch tower from the testing facility.
"This rocket incorporates 16 design changes, with the most important one being the fully upgraded optical navigation system, which greatly improves the redundant inertial measurement units and boost flight reliability," said Sun Yanqiu, an engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.
The Shenzhou-21 will be the 10th crewed mission since China began the initial construction of its space station and the sixth one since the space station entered the stage of application and development.
"After today's transfer, we will conduct checks on the combination's functions as well as a full-system launch rehearsal and an integrated rehearsal to verify compatibility between system interfaces, coordination and procedures. Once everything is confirmed normal, we will carry out rocket propellant filling and proceed to ignition and launch," said Zhao Lei, an engineer at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
According to schedule, the Shenzhou-21 crewed spacecraft is set to be launched at an appropriate time in the coming days.
The Shenzhou-21 crew will replace the astronauts of the Shenzhou-20 mission that have worked in orbit for six months.
Duration: 1 minute, 38 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 24, 2025
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