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China has launched an uncrewed Shenzhou spacecraft on a rare in-orbit rescue mission, ensuring three astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station have a safe way home after their original return vehicle was deemed unsafe following debris damage.
China’s Shenzhou 22 mission lifted off Monday night (Nov. 24) at 11:11 p.m. ET atop a Long March 2F/G rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Space.com reported.
Rescue mission underway
According space.com unlike typical Shenzhou missions, the spacecraft is carrying no crew.
Its sole purpose is to provide a functioning return capsule for the three astronauts currently living on Tiangong.
Those astronauts arrived on the station on Oct. 31 aboard Shenzhou 21 — but their craft is now gone.
It was reassigned to bring home the Shenzhou 20 crew on Nov. 14 after officials discovered a crack in that earlier craft’s window, believed to have been caused by space debris. The damage made Shenzhou 20 unsafe for reentry.
10 days without an escape route
The reassignment left the Shenzhou 21 crew in a vulnerable position: for the past 10 days, they had no evacuation spacecraft attached to the station.
Had an emergency arisen onboard Tiangong, their options would have been severely limited.
That risk will end once Shenzhou 22 docks with the station, a maneuver expected to occur roughly 4.5 hours after launch. With a new return craft secured, the Shenzhou 21 astronauts can finish their planned six-month mission, Space.com reports.
Preparing for the next rotation
China plans to launch the next astronaut trio, Shenzhou 23, in April 2026. Before that happens, the damaged Shenzhou 20 capsule will need to depart the station to free its docking port.
According to Space.com, Chinese officials say the compromised vehicle will remain in orbit for a while to support experiments, but its exact departure date hasn’t been announced.
Echoes of past incidents
The situation follows a similar off-nominal episode with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. After developing issues during its first crewed flight to the ISS in June 2024,
NASA chose to return Starliner to Earth uncrewed that September. Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore stayed aboard the ISS for more than nine months, eventually returning via a SpaceX Dragon capsule in March 2025.
Space.com reports that both events have intensified international debate over whether the world needs a dedicated space rescue capability — a service that could support astronauts from any nation when spacecraft malfunction far from home.
Sources: Space.com
