Image: China News Service (CC BY 4.0)
Shenzhou 14
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 2022-06-05 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, LA-4/SLS-1, China |
| Launch vehicle | Long March 2F/G (Y14) |
| Spacecraft | Shenzhou 14 |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 2022-12-04 |
| Recovery | Dongfeng landing site, Inner Mongolia, China |
| Duration | 182 days, 9 hours, 25 minutes |
| Partners | China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) |
Overview
Shenzhou 14 was the construction shift: the crew that watched Tiangong grow from a single module into a complete T-shaped space station around them. Commander Chen Dong, Liu Yang — China's first woman in space — and rookie Cai Xuzhe launched from Jiuquan at 02:44 UTC on 5 June 2022 and docked with Tianhe later that day. On 24 July 2022 the 23-tonne Wentian laboratory module arrived and was berthed to the station, followed by the Mengtian lab on 31 October; with transposition of both modules complete in early November, Tiangong reached its full three-module configuration on this crew's watch. The astronauts conducted three spacewalks — Chen and Liu performed the first EVA ever staged from Wentian's dedicated airlock on 1 September, with further excursions on 17 September and 17 November — and delivered the third Tiangong Classroom lecture from the new Wentian module. In late November, Shenzhou 15 arrived while Shenzhou 14 was still aboard, producing China's first in-orbit crew handover and the first time six Chinese astronauts lived in space simultaneously. The crew landed at Dongfeng at 12:09 UTC on 4 December 2022 after 182 days, and Chen Dong became the first Chinese astronaut to accumulate more than 200 days in orbit.
Crew
Chen Dong
Commander
Second spaceflight after Shenzhou 11; became first Chinese astronaut to log over 200 cumulative days in space
Liu Yang
Operator
Second spaceflight; China's first woman in space (Shenzhou 9, 2012) and second Chinese woman to perform an EVA
Cai Xuzhe
Operator
First spaceflight; later commanded Shenzhou 19 and set a world-record 9-hour EVA in 2024
Key Milestones
2022-06-05
Launch from Jiuquan at 02:44 UTC; docking with the Tianhe core module the same day
2022-07-24
Wentian laboratory module launches and docks with Tiangong — the station's first expansion
2022-09-01
Chen Dong and Liu Yang perform the first EVA staged from Wentian's airlock
2022-10-31
Mengtian lab module arrives, on the way to completing Tiangong's T-shaped three-module configuration
2022-11-29
Shenzhou 15 launches and docks — China's first in-orbit crew handover, six taikonauts aboard together
2022-12-04
Landing at Dongfeng at 12:09 UTC after 182 days in orbit
Key Achievements
Oversaw the in-orbit assembly of Tiangong, receiving both the Wentian and Mengtian laboratory modules
Performed the first spacewalk from Wentian's dedicated EVA airlock (1 September 2022), one of three mission EVAs
Completed China's first in-orbit crew handover with Shenzhou 15 — six Chinese astronauts in space at once
Liu Yang, China's first woman in space, returned to orbit and conducted her first EVA
Chen Dong became the first Chinese astronaut to surpass 200 cumulative days in orbit
Legacy & Significance
No Chinese crew has presided over more structural change in a single flight: Shenzhou 14 began aboard a one-module outpost and ended aboard a finished 60-plus-tonne national space station. The handover with Shenzhou 15 established the continuous-occupation model — Tiangong has never been empty since — and the mission's Wentian airlock procedures became the template for every subsequent Chinese spacewalk. It marks the moment China's station program shifted from construction to permanent operations.
