Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth after a historic 209-day mission aboard the Tiangong space station, setting a new national record for the longest single-crew orbital stay. The Shenzhou-21 crew completed extensive scientific work, spacewalks, and logistics handovers for the next mission, underscoring China's advancing human spaceflight capabilities and preparations for future lunar exploration.
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, astronaut Zhang Lu, commander of Shenzhou-21 crews waves as he is carried out of the re-entry capsule after it landed successfully at the Dongfeng landing site in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday, May 29, 2026.
HONG KONG — Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after spending nearly seven months in space, setting a record for the longest on-orbit stay by a Chinese crew.touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia region in the evening. Their return came as China prepares for its first The crew had completed various tasks, from processing and transmitting experimental data to transferring remaining supplies, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted the China Manned Space Agency as saying.
They also shared their experience with theXinhua reported earlier that the crew had completed three spacewalk activities. Zhang Jingbo, the space agency’s spokesperson, said that Zhang Lu, who was also on an earlier Shenzhou 15 mission to the space station, had completed seven such operations in total — becoming the Chinese astronaut with the most spacewalks, the report said.
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, astronaut Zhang Hongzhang waves as he is carried out of the re-entry capsule after it landed successfully at the Dongfeng landing site in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday, May 29, 2026. In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, astronaut Wu Fei waves as he is carried out of the re-entry capsule after it landed successfully at the Dongfeng landing site in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday, May 29, 2026.
FILE – Chinese astronaut for the Shenzhou 21 mission, from left, Zhang Hongzhang, Wu Fei and Zhang Lu wave as they attend a see-off ceremony for their manned space mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025.
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, astronaut Zhang Hongzhang waves as he is carried out of the re-entry capsule after it landed successfully at the Dongfeng landing site in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday, May 29, 2026. Zhang Lu said he felt extremely emotional when he returned to China.
He said at the astronauts’ mission wouldn’t have been possible without the care and support from their families and comrades, as well as the the backing of leaders and those involved in the project.
“Looking at Earth from space, I really felt that humanity is an indivisible community with a shared future,” he said. One of the three astronauts who arrived at the Tiangong space station with the Shenzhou 23 craft is set to stay for a year. Tiangong means “Heavenly Palace” in Chinese. The astronauts are Zhu Yangzhu, the commander, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, also identified by Chinese authorities as Li Jiaying, using the Mandarin transliteration of her name.
Lai, who was born and raised in Hong Kong, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission. As China steps up its space program, its astronauts have carried out multiple missions to the Tiangong space station, developed after China was effectively excluded from the International Space Station on U.S. concerns over national security.
Shenzhou-21 Tiangong Space Station Chinese Astronauts Spacewalk Record Long-Duration Mission Chang'e Program Lunar Exploration
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