Engineers and scientists are making final preparations for the launch of the Shenzhou-20 mission. The crewed spaceship, along with its carrier rocket, has been successfully moved to the launch site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The transfer of the spacecraft and rocket took place on Wednesday evening and was completed smoothly in about two hours. Zheng Yonghuang, chief engineer at the Jiuyuan Satellite Launch Center, explained that a detailed follow-up work plan has been developed to ensure everything runs seamlessly.
“Before the vertical transfer, we outlined the content, status, sequence, and coordination of testing and inspection items for each system at the launch area,” said Zheng. “During implementation, we focused on confirming the status of the combination, controlling the process, and supervising the checkpoints to ensure that each system operates efficiently and smoothly.”
The Shenzhou-20 mission is set to be launched in the near future. Following a “rolling backup” model, where there’s always a rocket on standby for emergencies, the Long March-2F carrier rocket has completed rocket lifting and binding. It has been on emergency rescue standby duties since it arrived at the launch center on September 20, 2023.
“On March 20, our rocket launch team returned to the launch site to conduct testing on the multiple subsystems of the rocket and ensure compatibility between them,” said Liu Haibo, an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. “We performed four overall inspections and completed the fairing assembly, as well as the matching of the spacecraft-fairing combination and the escape tower.”
Liu added, “Currently, the rocket systems are functioning well, with all parameters within the acceptable range, and the rocket is in good condition.”
With the combination having completed final assembly tests and other related tasks, the launch site facilities and equipment are ready. Engineers are scheduled to carry out various functional checks and joint tests ahead of the launch.
