Image: China News Service (中国新闻社), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Shenzhou 15
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 2022-11-29 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, LA-4/SLS-1 |
| Launch vehicle | Long March 2F/G (Y23) |
| Spacecraft | Shenzhou 15 |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 2023-06-03 |
| Duration | 186 days 7 hours |
| Partners | China Manned Space Agency |
Overview
Shenzhou 15 was China's tenth crewed spaceflight and the first to dock with the fully assembled Tiangong station. At its heart was commander Fei Junlong, who waited an extraordinary seventeen years between flights — his only previous mission was Shenzhou 6 in 2005 — before finally returning to orbit at 57. Beside him flew two rookies: Deng Qingming, who had trained for nearly a quarter-century without a seat, and Zhang Lu. When their craft docked with Tianhe, six taikonauts shared the station for the first time as the departing Shenzhou 14 crew handed over operations directly in orbit. Over roughly 186 days the trio carried out four spacewalks, including a record 7-hour-6-minute EVA, and ran more than one hundred experiments before landing in the Gobi Desert.
Crew
Fei Junlong
Commander
Second spaceflight, 17 years after Shenzhou 6 (2005)
Deng Qingming
Operator
First spaceflight after nearly 25 years as a backup
Zhang Lu
System Operator
First spaceflight
Key Milestones
2022-11-29
Launched from Jiuquan on Long March 2F/G (Y23) at 15:08 UTC
2022-11-29
Docked with the Tianhe core module at 21:42 UTC; first in-orbit direct crew handover with Shenzhou 14, briefly putting six taikonauts aboard Tiangong
2023-02-09
First EVA lasting 7 hours 6 minutes, a Chinese spacewalk-duration record
2023-06-03
Undocked and landed in Inner Mongolia's Gobi Desert at 22:33 UTC (4 June Beijing time)
Key Achievements
First crew to dock with the fully assembled three-module Tiangong space station
First in-orbit direct handover between two Chinese crews (with Shenzhou 14)
Set a Chinese spacewalk-duration record of 7 hours 6 minutes
Commander Fei Junlong's return after a 17-year gap between flights
