China’s Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft is set to launch in the coming days, after it was vertically transported to Wenchang Space Launch Site in South China’s Hainan Province together with its launch vehicle, a Long March-7 Y9 rocket, on Wednesday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced. All systems are now set and ready for the launch, it said.
As the cargo spacecraft with the highest payload capacity in the world, Tianzhou-8 will deliver supplies to China’s Tiangong space station for the crew of Shenzhou-19 which is currently in orbit, and the next Shenzhou-20 crew, as well as special birthday gifts for them. But the one item of cargo that has captured the most attention is the “lunar soil bricks,” which will mark the first intersection of China’s manned lunar landing and manned space station projects, experts said.
The Tianzhou-8 mission is taking place nearly 10 months after the launch of Tianzhou-7, setting a new record for the longest interval between China’s cargo resupply to the space station.
China’s cargo ships incorporate technical improvements with each mission. For instance, the original schedule of two missions a year has now been adjusted to three missions every two years, averaging one mission every eight months, with task frequency expected to be further reduced.