China Plans Tiangong Space Station Expansion

China is planning to expand its Tiangong Space Station to enhance its capabilities and allow more visiting vehicles.

China completed the construction of its three-module Tiangong Space Station last November, bringing to fruition a plan that was initially authorized in 1992. The station's operational phase only just started with a crew handover at the end of 2022, but expansion plans are already being created.

Early expansion plans pointed to the idea of duplicating the 3 current modules of the station to bring the station to a total of 6 modules, however it appears China is now planning to add a single multi-functional module that will have 6 docking ports (5 open ports once docked to station.

The additional docking ports will offer redundancy and permit more spacecraft to dock at Tiangong than it currently can accommodate. This will also aid in the execution of plans to enable commercial spacecraft and tourist visits to the orbital outpost.

“We will launch the expansion module of the space station at an appropriate time to further expand the size of the space station and enhance its capacity” - Ji Qiming, Assistant Director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO)

In 2024, China is set to launch an optical telescope module named Xuntian, which will co-orbit with Tiangong. The module will have the ability to dock with Tiangong to carry out repairs, maintenance, refueling, and upgrades.

China intends to maintain a permanent human presence on Tiangong for at least ten years, with crews of three individuals rotating every six months. China is also planning to open Tiangong for commericial missions an activities similar to what we have seen on the International Space Station with Axiom Space.

“When our space station is completed and running, we will actively encourage the private sector to engage in space through various ways,” - Zhou Jianping, Chief Designer of China’s Human Spaceflight Program