The Mengtian laboratory cabin module was launched into space on October 31st, 2022. The second laboratory and final addition to the palace in the sky is called "Dreaming of the Heavens." The successful launch places China one step closer to completing its first long-term space station, roughly one-fifth the mass of the International Space Station and comparable in size to Russia's decommissioned Mir space station.
The event was live-streamed by the state-owned China Global Television Network. The launch began at 03:37 PM Beijing Time and separated about eight minutes later. China wants to complete the space station by the end of the year.
The first two installments of China's space station program were launched in 2011. A few months before its predecessor was deorbited and burned up in the atmosphere, the launch of Tiangong-2 took place. The lessons learned from these two stations led to the creation of the core module of Tiangong 3.
There were multiple crewed and uncrewed missions to the station to develop expertise in rendezvous and short term stays. The Wentian science module was added in July of 2022. The size and weight of the module are similar to that of Wentian and Tianhe.
The laboratory cabin modules are for scientific experimentation. They have a working cabin, a payload cabin, a resource cabin, and an airlock cabin. These labs will be used to conduct microgravity research when the next taikonaut crew arrives. China is hoping that the station will succeed once it is gone.
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