Haolong and Qingzhou will be added to the fleet! What other surprises will China's space program bring in 2025?

In 2025, China's manned spaceflight journey is exciting. Shenzhou 20, Shenzhou 21, and Tianzhou 9 are ready to go, and the Haolong cargo space shuttle and Qingzhou cargo spacecraft will also make their debut together with the Suzaku-3 and Lijian-2. Among them, the Haolong cargo space shuttle was independently designed and developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

This year, China's space station is still very busy, and will welcome three spacecrafts, Shenzhou 20, Shenzhou 21 and Tianzhou 9. The selection of the fourth batch of 10 astronauts was completed in May last year, and they may carry out the Shenzhou 20 and Shenzhou 21 space station missions. The rocket and spacecraft that carried out the Shenzhou 20 mission were already waiting at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center when the Shenzhou 19 mission was carried out.

This year, the Chinese space station will continue to carry out various scientific experiments and technical tests in aerospace medicine, aerospace biology, fluid physics, combustion, material preparation and space science. In addition, it is particularly worth mentioning that this year the circle of friends of the Chinese space station has grown a lot compared with previous years. The Suzaku-3, which plans to transport the Haolong cargo space shuttle to the space station, will make its maiden flight, and the Lijian-2, which plans to transport the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, will also go to space.

Since we already have the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft, why do we need to include the Haolong cargo space shuttle and the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft? Yang Yuguang, chairman of the International Astronautical Federation's Space Transportation Committee, explained that from the perspective of the operation of the entire space station, the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft is sufficient to meet the requirements of the space station. However, as the Chinese space station serves as a space laboratory, more and more scientific experiments are carried out in it, and some items with particularly high time requirements will also need to be brought into space. At this time, the lightweight and flexible Haolong cargo space shuttle and Qingzhou cargo spacecraft can show their talents. "For some short-term and fast-moving goods, such as products needed for biological and medical experiments, it may need to go up to the space station quickly. Both Qingzhou and Haolong are very useful supplements."

He Bin, general manager of the public relations department of Landspace, said that in the next two years, Zhuque-2 and Zhuque-3 will gradually switch from the research and development mode to the operation mode, and then enter the stable operation stage. In 2025, Zhuque-2 is expected to deliver 6 launches, providing a 24-ton carrying capacity to the 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit; Zhuque-3 will carry out its first flight in the third quarter of this year, and is scheduled to carry out 3 launch missions this year, providing a carrying capacity of about 60 tons. Currently, Zhuque-3 has entered the relevant process of power system test run.

Another pair of new friends of the Chinese space station are the Qingzhou-1 cargo spacecraft and the Lijian-2 launch vehicle. It is understood that the Qingzhou-1 cargo spacecraft adopts an integrated single-cabin configuration, provides 27 cubic meters of space, and can carry 1.8 to 2 tons of cargo. The Lijian-2 will be responsible for the launch of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, and its maiden flight is scheduled for September 2025.

Let’s look forward to it together!