Shenzhou 21
Shenzhou 21 was a Chinese spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, launched on 31 October 2025. It carried three taikonauts on board a Shenzhou spacecraft. The mission is the 16th crewed Chinese spaceflight and the 21st flight overall of the Shenzhou program. The flight marked the tenth crew rotation to the Tiangong station, which has been continuously occupied since June 2021.
The Shenzhou 21 spacecraft was originally scheduled to complete a six-month rotation at Tiangong. However, due to suspected space debris damage to the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft, Shenzhou 21 returned to Earth early after only a two-week stay, carrying the Shenzhou 20 crew. The Shenzhou 21 mission crew remains at Tiangong.
Mission
Launch and docking
Shenzhou 21 was launched aboard a Long March 2F rocket from Launch Area 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 31 October 2025 at 15:44:46UTC.Prior to launch, the taikonauts took part in a formal send-off ceremony at the Jiuquan Astronaut Systems Engineering Office—a tradition dating to Shenzhou 5 in 2003—before traveling by motorcade to the pad for spacecraft ingress about 2 hours, 20 minutes before liftoff.
After orbital insertion, Shenzhou 21 conducted a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the forward port of Tiangong's Tianhe core module at 19:22UTC, taking approximately three and a half hours to reach the station. This was three hours faster than the Shenzhou 20 docking sequence and significantly faster than the two days trip prior to Shenzhou 14.
Once docked to Tianhe's forward port, the crew entered the station and took over operations from the departing Shenzhou 20 crew of Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, who have been in orbit since April 2025.
Early return of spacecraft
The two crews were expected to overlap for about one week before Shenzhou 20's scheduled return to Earth in early November 2025. However, the return of the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft has been delayed indefinitely due to suspected damage from space debris.On November 11, the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft returned to Earth early after a two-week stay at the station, carrying the crew of Shenzhou 20. The Shenzhou 21 crew remains on board Tiangong, and on November 25, the Shenzhou 22 spacecraft was flown uncrewed to the space station to serve as their return vehicle.
On December 9, Wu Fei and Zhang Lu conducted an 8-hour spacewalk that inspected the damage to the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft.
Objectives
During their six-month stay, the Shenzhou 21 crew will conduct 27 scientific experiments, including China's first study of rodent mammals in orbit. Four mice accompanied the crew to examine the effects of microgravity and confined living conditions; they will later return to Earth aboard Shenzhou 20. Other experiments will focus on new-energy research and biological adaptation in microgravity.The crew is also expected to receive the Tianzhou 10 cargo spacecraft and prepare for handover to the Shenzhou 23 mission in 2026. They may become the first crew to utilize the upgraded Feitian space suits, delivered to the station by Tianzhou 9 earlier in the year.