Information
Explore history, facts, modules, and life on board Tiangong-2.
Tiangong-2
China's second orbital laboratory and medium-duration crew-stay testbed.
Tiangong-2 launched in September 2016 as China's second space laboratory. It supported the Shenzhou 11 crew's 30-day stay, Tianzhou 1 cargo docking and refueling work, and more than 60 scientific and technical experiments before a controlled reentry in July 2019.
Mass
about 8.6 t
CNSA described Tiangong-2 as an 8.6-tonne space lab.
Role
Medium-duration stay and refueling testbed
It supported Shenzhou 11 crew operations and Tianzhou 1 cargo/refueling demonstrations.
Dockings
4
CMSA records four dockings with Shenzhou 11 and Tianzhou 1 during orbital operations.
Dimensions and volume
Length
10.4 m
Maximum diameter
3.35 m
Solar-panel wingspan
about 18.4 m
Mass
about 8.6 t
Modules and layout
Experiment module
Pressurized laboratory
Hosted crew activity, space-science payloads, medical experiments, and education experiments.
Resource module
Service module
Provided propulsion, power, and support systems for the laboratory.
Timeline
Launch
Tiangong-2 launched from Jiuquan as China's second space laboratory.
Shenzhou 11 visit
Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong docked with Tiangong-2 for China's first medium-duration crew stay.
Tianzhou 1 cargo mission
Tianzhou 1 docked with Tiangong-2 and demonstrated cargo transport and propellant refueling.
Controlled reentry
Tiangong-2 completed a controlled reentry over the South Pacific.
All values are approximate and vary with configuration.