Image: China News Service (CC BY 4.0)
Shenzhou 21
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 2025-10-31 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, LA-4/SLS-1, China |
| Launch vehicle | Long March 2F/G (Y21) |
| Spacecraft | Shenzhou 21 (ascent); Shenzhou 22 (return) |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 2026-05-29 |
| Recovery | Dongfeng landing site, Inner Mongolia, China (crew returned aboard Shenzhou 22) |
| Duration | 209 days, 20 hours, 26 minutes |
| Partners | China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) |
Overview
Shenzhou 21 became the most dramatic expedition of the Tiangong era. Commander Zhang Lu, flight engineer Wu Fei — at 32 the youngest Chinese astronaut to fly — and payload specialist Zhang Hongzhang launched from Jiuquan at 15:44 UTC on 31 October 2025, docking just 3.5 hours later in the fastest Shenzhou rendezvous yet flown. They carried four mice, the first rodents aboard Tiangong, for China's first in-orbit mammal study. Within days the mission was upended: the resident Shenzhou 20 spacecraft was found to have a cracked return-capsule window, most likely from a space-debris strike, and was ruled unsafe for crewed reentry. On 14 November 2025 the outgoing Shenzhou 20 crew came home aboard the brand-new Shenzhou 21 capsule, leaving Zhang Lu's crew temporarily without a lifeboat until the uncrewed Shenzhou 22 launched to the station on 25 November as their replacement ride. The crew pressed on with three spacewalks totaling nearly 21 hours, including an eight-hour EVA on 9 December by Wu Fei and Zhang Lu to inspect the damaged Shenzhou 20. After handing Tiangong to the Shenzhou 23 crew, they landed at Dongfeng aboard Shenzhou 22 on 29 May 2026, closing a Chinese single-flight record of nearly 210 days.
Crew
Zhang Lu
Commander
Second spaceflight; previously flew on Shenzhou 15
Wu Fei
Flight Engineer
First spaceflight; at 32, the youngest Chinese astronaut to reach orbit; third astronaut group
Zhang Hongzhang
Payload Specialist
First spaceflight; payload specialist from China's third astronaut group
Key Milestones
2025-10-31
Launch at 15:44 UTC; record 3.5-hour rendezvous and docking with Tiangong at 19:22 UTC, with four mice aboard
2025-11-05
Shenzhou 20's return is postponed after a suspected space-debris strike cracks its capsule window
2025-11-14
Shenzhou 20 crew lands safely aboard the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft — China's first in-orbit lifeboat swap
2025-11-25
Uncrewed Shenzhou 22 launches to Tiangong as the replacement return craft for the Shenzhou 21 crew
2025-12-09
Eight-hour spacewalk by Wu Fei and Zhang Lu inspects the damaged Shenzhou 20 spacecraft
2026-05-29
Crew lands at Dongfeng aboard Shenzhou 22 after a Chinese single-mission record of nearly 210 days
Key Achievements
Fastest crewed Shenzhou rendezvous and docking on record, reaching Tiangong about 3.5 hours after launch
Carried the first rodents to Tiangong, enabling China's first in-orbit mammal study — one returned mouse later birthed nine healthy pups
Executed China's first emergency spacecraft swap, returning the debris-stranded Shenzhou 20 crew aboard its own capsule
Three EVAs totaling nearly 21 hours, including an eight-hour inspection of the damaged Shenzhou 20
Set China's single-mission spaceflight duration record at 209 days, returning aboard Shenzhou 22
Legacy & Significance
Shenzhou 21 proved the resilience of China's human-spaceflight architecture under real emergency conditions. The debris strike on Shenzhou 20 forced the program's contingency playbook — capsule reassignment, an on-call rescue spacecraft, and rapid uncrewed launch of Shenzhou 22 — to perform in public for the first time, and it worked without injury or mission loss. Together with the record 3.5-hour rendezvous, the first mammalian biology campaign aboard Tiangong, and a national endurance record, the flight demonstrated that China's station program had matured from routine operations into genuine operational depth, lessons directly applicable to its crewed lunar ambitions.
Related Missions
Sources
- Xinhua — China unveils Shenzhou-21 crew for more diversified space sci-tech experiments
- SpaceNews — Shenzhou-21 completes rapid docking with Tiangong space station 3.5 hours after launch
- SpaceNews — Shenzhou-20 astronauts safely return to Earth on Shenzhou-21 spacecraft after space debris damage concerns
- CGTN — Mission success: China's Shenzhou-21 astronaut crew returns to Earth
