China's Tiangong space station has received the third and last module.
According to the China Manned Space Agency, the Mengtian module arrived to Tiangong in accordance with the schedule around 13 hours after liftoff.
Chinese space officials have stated that the docking of Mengtian with Tiangong signals the completion of the space station's assembly phase and the beginning of full operations. Mengtian's landing enables China to implement a 1992-approved space station vision.
Since launching the Tianhe core module into orbit in April of last year, China has launched nine space station-related missions.
The 58.7-foot-long, 48,500-pound Mengtian spacecraft, whose name translates to "Dreaming of the Heavens," was built primarily to house a variety of science modules and experiments. Experiments on microgravity, fluid physics, materials science, combustion science, fundamental physics, and other topics will be conducted using equipment mounted on board.
Tianhe, Mengtian, and a module referred to as Wentian make up the Tiangong space station. Three astronauts will reside in the T-shaped Tiangong for a period of six months at a time, or six crew members for a limited period of time during crew handovers.
Tiangong has already hosted three crewed missions, beginning with the three-month Shenzhou 12 mission from June to September 2021. The Shenzhou 13 crew took off in October of that year and returned to Earth on April 16. Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe of Shenzhou 14 have been in orbit since June 5, and have received both the Wentian and Mengtian scientific modules.
Aside from hosting science programs and authorized astronauts, Tiangong has additional plans. A large survey satellite telescope called Xuntian that China aims to deploy as early as late 2023 will also be supported by the space station. The Hubble-class observatory will be in a position to dock to the station for refueling, upgrades, and repairs because its orbit is similar to that of Tiangong.
Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut, stated earlier this year that Tiangong might someday be made a tourist destination.
While China celebrates the successful launch of Mengtian, there will almost certainly be some ramifications from the mission. The massive first stages of three previously flown Long March 5B rockets have attained orbit and performed high-profile uncontrolled reentries around a week after launch. Onlookers in Malaysia and Indonesia witnessed the spectacular first stage return from the Wentian module launch in July.
The latest rocket stage's decaying orbit will almost certainly draw media coverage.
