China completes the first phase of construction of its space station

Nov. 2 () –

The Mengtian laboratory module has been successfully docked with the combination of China’s Tiangong space station, thus culminating its first phase of construction.

Mengtian, Tiangong’s second laboratory module, docked with the front port of Tianhe, the space station’s core module, at 4:27 a.m. Beijing time on Nov. 1, after it entered its planned orbit, the Space Agency said. China Manned (CMSA), quoted by Xinhua. The entire rendezvous and docking process took approximately 13 hours.

Later, Mengtian will undergo a transposition maneuver as planned, according to the CMSA. The Mengtian module, together with the Tianhe core module and the Wentian laboratory module, will form the basic configuration of the T-shaped space station.

Mengtian is docked at the front of the central Tianhe module of the station. Later, it will be separated so that, with the help of the station’s robotic arm, it will be attached to a side port of Tianhe, opposite the one occupied by the first Wentian laboratory module.

Mengtian has a mass of 23 tonsa length of 17.88 meters and a maximum diameter of 4.2 meters. It was released on October 31.