First cargo spacecraft to visit China's space station this year set for launch

The first cargo spacecraft to visit China's Tiangong space station this year — the Tianzhou 9 robotic ship — is scheduled to set out on its journey in coming days, according to China Manned Space Agency.

The Long March 7-Y10 carrier rocket tasked with lifting the Tianzhou 9 was moved to its launch service tower at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Saturday morning, the agency said in a news release.

Tianzhou 9 will become the 17th spaceship, and the eighth cargo vessel, to connect with the Chinese space station.

It will deliver propellants, science payloads and necessities for the Shenzhou XX astronauts, who have stayed in orbit for nearly three months.

Currently, the ground equipment at the Wenchang center are in good condition, the agency said in the release, adding that the final functional examinations will take place on systems involved in the launch mission.

The Long March 7 model is a liquid-fueled rocket developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. The rocket has a height of 53.1 meters, a core-stage diameter of 3.35 m, and a liftoff weight of 597 tons. With six 120-ton-thrust engines, the launch vehicle can send 13.5 tons of payloads to the low-Earth orbit and 5.5 tons to Sun-synchronous orbit.

The "Y10" in the name of the rocket to be launched means it is the 10th in the Long March series that has been manufactured.

Orbiting Earth about 400 kilometers above the ground, Tiangong has three permanent parts — a core module and two science capsules — and is regularly connected to several visiting crew and cargo spaceships.