China launches 2nd space station module to support science experiments

A new compartment will be added to the space station following the launch of the Wentian module.

Wentian was put on its way to space by a Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket. The spaceport on the southern island of Hainan will be open for business on July 24. The 58.7-foot-long (17.9 meters) module will soon be indistinguishable from the first space station module from China. Wentian is expected to dock at a port in Tianhe later in the day.

Wentian is the second module that will be launched by China. The third will complete the T-shaped Tiangong space station and will be launched in October. The International Space Station, which has a mass of about 500 tons, is 20% larger than the completed Tiangong.

Photos and history of China's Long March rocket family.

The three astronauts are waiting for the new module to arrive. According to Chinese state media, the trio will host a live science lecture from Wentian in the future.

The main function of Wentian is to host a series of experiment cabinets that allow astronauts to conduct a wide range of science experiments in space. It has extra sleeping quarters for astronauts that will allow China to conduct crew handovers during which six crew members temporarily stay aboard Tiangong, which is expected to happen before the current crew's departure in December.

The main module's robotic arm will be used to move Wentian to a side port at some point in the near future. China tested the necessary maneuvers using a cargo ship that delivered supplies to the space station. Wentian's arrival was made possible by the release of the spaceship.

Wentian has a larger robot arm that can connect with its smaller one.

China began its space station project way back in 1992, approving a plan to develop the ability to launch astronauts into space, test life support aboard small space labs, and build new, large rockets capable of launching modules.

Each crew of three astronauts will spend six months on the space station for at least a decade, as the country plans to keep it permanently crewed. Foreign astronauts and even space tourists will be able to visit the orbital outpost in the future, as well as host international experiments, the first of which have already been selected.

China plans to launch a powerful survey space telescope called Xuntian in the near future. The Hubble-class observatory will be able to dock at the station for repairs, because it will operate in a similar way to the Tiangonggong space station.

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