The Long March 7 carrier rocket tasked with lifting the Tianzhou 7 cargo spaceship is moved to a launch service tower at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, Jan 15, 2024. (LIU CHANGLIAN / CHINA DAILY)
The Long March 7 carrier rocket tasked with lifting the Tianzhou 7 cargo spaceship was moved to a launch service tower at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, according to China Manned Space Agency.
Tianzhou 7 is scheduled to set out in the coming days to dock with the country's Tiangong space station to deliver propellants, science payloads and necessities for the astronauts serving there, according to mission plans.
Currently, the ground equipment at the Wenchang center is in good condition, the agency said in a news release, adding that the final functional examinations will be conducted on systems involved in the launch.
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The Long March 7 carrier rocket tasked with lifting the Tianzhou 7 cargo spaceship is moved to a launch service tower at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, Jan 15, 2024. (LIU CHANGLIAN / CHINA DAILY)
The Long March 7 rocket was transported to the Wenchang center in late December and then underwent prelaunch checks with the cargo ship.
On Friday afternoon, the Tianzhou 6 cargo craft undocked from Tiangong and will fall back to Earth very soon, the space agency said. Most of the spaceship will burn up during reentry, and a small amount of debris is expected to fall into secure areas in the South Pacific Ocean.
Tianzhou 7 will become the 12th spaceship to visit the Chinese space station and the first to do so this year.
READ MORE: Rocket arrives at launch site for Tianzhou-7 cargo mission
Orbiting Earth about 400 kilometers above the ground, Tiangong has three permanent parts — a core module and two science capsules — and is regularly connected to several visiting crew and cargo spaceships.
The Long March 7 carrier rocket tasked with lifting the Tianzhou 7 cargo spaceship is moved to a launch service tower at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, Jan 15, 2024. (LIU CHANGLIAN / CHINA DAILY)
The Long March 7 carrier rocket tasked with lifting the Tianzhou 7 cargo spaceship is moved to a launch service tower at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, Jan 15, 2024. (LIU CHANGLIAN / CHINA DAILY)
The Long March 7 carrier rocket tasked with lifting the Tianzhou 7 cargo spaceship is moved to a launch service tower at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, Jan 15, 2024. (LIU CHANGLIAN / CHINA DAILY)
