Tianzhou (spacecraft)

The Tianzhou is a Chinese automated cargo spacecraft developed from China's first prototype space station Tiangong-1 to resupply its modular space station. It was first launched on the Long March 7 rocket from Wenchang on April 20, 2017 and demonstrated autonomous propellant transfer.
The first version of Tianzhou has a mass of 13,500 kg and can carry 6,900 kg of cargo. Tianzhou-6 is the first improved version of the spacecraft to be launched into orbit; it has a mass of about 14,000 kg and can transport 7,400 kg of cargo.

Function

Based on the Tiangong-1 space station, the Tianzhou functions as the main automated cargo spacecraft for the Tiangong space station. It has pressurized, semi-pressurized and unpressurized cargo capabilities, and is able to transport airtight cargo, large extravehicular payloads and experiment platforms. It was first launched on the new Long March 7 rocket from Wenchang on April 20, 2017.

Name

The China Manned Space Engineering Office opened a consultation for the naming of the prospective cargo ship on April 25, 2011. By May 20, it had received more than 50,000 suggestions. On July 8, Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut and deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed that they had a short list of ten names. On October 31, 2013, it was revealed that the spacecraft had been named Tianzhou, combining the Chinese names of the Tiangong space stations and the Shenzhou spacecraft. They also stated that they would use the two letter identification TZ.

Missions

Tianzhou spacecraft were initially flown to the Tiangong space station every 6 months. From Tianzhou 6 onward, missions have been flown with the new version of Tianzhou with increased cargo capacity, allowing the launch frequency to be reduced to three ships every two years.