China launched the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft on Tuesday to deliver supplies for its space station, which is due to be completed this year.
The Long March-7 Y5 rocket, carrying Tianzhou-4, lifted off at 1:56 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the Wenchang spacecraft launch site in the southern island province of Hainan, according to the China Human Space Flight Agency. (China Manned Space Agency, CMSA).
CMSA said the launch was a complete success. Like previous cargo flights, Tianzhou-4 carries three categories of supplies, including six-month daily living supplies for the three astronauts on the Shenzhou-14 mission, spare parts for space station maintenance, and space research equipment.
Tianzhou-4 will dock with the combination of the central module of the Tianhe space station and the Tianzhou-3 cargo craft, CMSA said.
On April 20, Tianzhou-3 separated from the aft docking port of Tianhe and docked at its docking port. Tuesday’s launch marks the 22nd mission of China’s manned space programs and the 420th mission in the Long March carrier rocket series.
