At 8:14 on May 11, the Long March 7 carrier rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China, carrying the Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft into the sky. The cargo spacecraft was subsequently successfully delivered into its preset orbit, marking the complete success of China's first manned space launch mission of 2026.
Since 2017, China has successfully completed 10 launch missions of the Tianzhou-series cargo spacecraft.
Developed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft is primarily designed to transport supplies and equipment to the space station, replenish propellant, and dispose of waste. The spacecraft adopts a 4-tank improved fully sealed configuration, with a cargo capacity of 7.4 tons and an upmass payload fraction of 0.53. This mission carries approximately 6.2 tons of supplies, comprising more than 220 items, along with 700 kilograms of propellant. The cargo is mainly intended to support the daily necessities required for the on-orbit work and life of the Shenzhou-23 and Shenzhou-24 astronaut crews, as well as the instruments and equipment needed for routine operation and maintenance of the space station.
It is reported that the Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft is loaded with one set of extravehicular spacesuits, along with consumables for the astronauts' on-orbit stay, propellant, and application experiment devices.
The Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft is scheduled to remain docked with the space station for one year. Since the Tianzhou-series cargo spacecraft entered service, their on-orbit mission durations have been dynamically adjusted in line with the evolving phases of China's space station project, extending from the initial approximately six months to progressively longer periods of nine to ten months.
During this mission, the development team of the Long March 7 carrier rocket implemented a total of 15 technical improvements and optimizations, covering technological innovation, reliability upgrades, and production efficiency enhancement. For the first time, this rocket was equipped with the "Bianque" system for fault diagnosis experimentation.