Shenzhou 11 was a

crewed spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

of the

Shenzhou program The China Manned Space Program (CMS; ), also known as Project 921 () is a space program developed by the People's Republic of China and run by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), designed to develop and enhance human spaceflight capabilities fo ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, launched on 17 October 2016 (16 October UTC) from the

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC; also known as Shuangchengzi Missile Test Center; Launch Complex B2; formally Northwest Comprehensive Missile Testing Facility (); Base 20; 63600 Unit) is a Chinese space vehicle launch facility (spac ...

. It was China's sixth crewed space mission, at 33 days, it was the longest until the follow up

Shenzhou 12 Shenzhou 12 (, see § Etymology) was a Chinese spaceflight launched on 17 June 2021. The flight marked the seventh crewed Chinese spaceflight and the twelfth flight of the Shenzhou program. The spacecraft carried three members of the People's ...

mission which lasted 3 months. Two days after launch, it docked with the

Tiangong-2 Tiangong-2 () was a Chinese space laboratory and part of the Project 921-2 space station program. Tiangong-2 was launched on 15 September 2016. It was deorbited as planned on 19 July 2019. Tiangong-2 was neither designed nor planned to be a p ...

space laboratory, which had been launched on 15 September 2016. Shenzhou 11 was the 1st and only expedition and mission to Tiangong-2 in this portion of the

Tiangong program The Tiangong program () is China's space program to create a modular space station, comparable to Mir. This program is independent and unconnected to any other international space-active countries. The program is part of the China Manned Spac ...

Crew

The crew consisted of two taikonauts. Commander Jing celebrated his 50th birthday while in orbit. ; Back-up crew The mission selected two crew instead of three to extend supplies to increase mission length for their long duration stay.

Mission

The Shenzhou 11 launched at 07:30 on 17 October 2016 local time (23:30 UTC on 16 October) from the

using a

Long March 2F The Long March 2F ( ''Changzheng 2F''), also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian (, "Divine Arrow"), is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Designed to launch crewed Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long March ...

launch rocket. The mission's main objective was to rendezvous and dock with the

space laboratory and gain experience from a 30-day residence, and to test its life-support systems. In the two days after the launch, it changed its orbit five times to arrive 52 kilometres behind the Tiangong-2 space lab. It autonomously rendezvoused and docked with Tiangong-2 at 3:24 p.m. EDT on 18 October 2016, while both spacecraft were at an altitude of . The crew landed successfully after the 33-day mission on 18 November 2016. The reentry module of the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft landed in

Dorbod Banner Dorbod (Siziwang) Banner ( mn, , , ; ) is a banner (county equivalent) in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, China, bordering Mongolia's Dornogovi Province to the northwest. It is located about north of Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia. The bann ...

, Inner Mongolia around 2:15 p.m. (China time) after undocking from the space lab on 17 November.

References

External links

Live webcast

Live webcast
{{Portal bar, China, Spaceflight 2016 in China Human spaceflights October 2016 events in China Shenzhou program Spacecraft launched in 2016 Tiangong program