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China completes first refueling of Tiangong-2 space lab

Saturday, 29 April 2017 7:36 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 29 April 2017 7:36 AM ]

An artist's impression of Tianzhou-1 (left) docked with the slightly larger Tiangong-2 orbital laboratory. © China Manned Space Agency

China’s first cargo spacecraft has successfully completed one of its main tasks of refueling the country’s orbiting lab.

Tianzhou-1 cargo ship has for the first time resupplied the Tiangong-2 space laboratory with an in-flight refueling technology. During its two-month flight in space, the spacecraft is scheduled to carry out the same operation twice more.

Each refueling resorts to a different formality and is completed in 29 steps, which can take several days to go through. If Tianzhou-1 succeeds in all its planned in-orbit refueling, China will become the world’s third country to have mastered the technology alongside the US and Russia.