Tianzhou (spacecraft)

Tianzhou

Country of origin	China
Operator	CNSA
Applications	Tiangong-2 resupply
Specifications
Spacecraft type	Automated cargo spacecraft
Launch mass	Up to 13,500 kg (29,800 lb)
Payload capacity	Up to 6,500 kg (14,300 lb)
Dimensions	9 m × 3.35 m (29.5 ft × 11.0 ft)
Volume	15 m3 (530 cu ft)
Production
Status	In Development
Related spacecraft
Derived from	Tiangong-1

The Tianzhou (Chinese: 天舟; pinyin: Tiān Zhōu; literally: "Heavenly Ship") is a Chinese automated cargo spacecraft developed from the Tiangong-1 to resupply its future modular space station. It is expected to launch on the Long March 7 from Wenchang.^[1] It is scheduled to make its inaugural flight in 2017 to demonstrate autonomous propellant transfer.^[2]

Function

It will function as the main cargo transportation for the Chinese space station. It will have pressurized, semi-pressurized and unpressurized cargo capabilities. It shall be able to transport airtight cargo, large extravehicular payloads and experiment platforms. It is to be launched by a CZ-7 from the Hainan Space Launch Site.^[2]

Name

The China Manned Space Engineering Office opened a consultation for the naming of the prospective cargo ship on April 25, 2011. By May 20, it had received more than 50,000 suggestions.^[3] On July 8 Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut and deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed that they had a short list of ten names.^[4] On October 31, 2013, it was revealed that they spacecraft had been named Tianzhou (Chinese: 天舟; pinyin: Tiān Zhōu; literally: "Heavenly Boat"), a portmanteau of the Chinese names of the Tiangong (Chinese: 天宫; pinyin: Tiān Gōng) space stations and the Shenzhou (Chinese: 神舟; pinyin: Shén Zhōu) spacecraft. They also stated that they would use the two letter identification TZ.^[5]

Missions

See also

• Comparison of space station cargo vehicles
  • Progress spacecraft – an expendable cargo vehicle currently in use by the Russian Federal Space Agency
  • Automated Transfer Vehicle – a retired expendable cargo vehicle used by the ESA
  • Cygnus spacecraft – an expendable cargo vehicle developed by Orbital ATK under American CRS program, currently in use.
  • H-II Transfer Vehicle – an expendable cargo vehicle currently in use by JAXA
  • Dream Chaser Cargo System - a cargo variant of the reusable SNC's spaceplane
  • Dragon cargo spacecraft - a reusable cargo vehicle developed by SpaceX, under American CRS program, currently in use.

References

External links

Automated cargo spacecraft
Current	Cygnus Dragon H-II Transfer Vehicle Progress
In development	Dream Chaser Cargo System Tianzhou
Past	Automated Transfer Vehicle TKS
Proposed	ARCTUS Jupiter Parom TGK PG
Cancelled	Kistler K-1
Comparison of space station cargo vehicles

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