China has postponed the return of its Shenzhou-20 astronauts after their spacecraft was “suspected to have been struck by orbital debris,” according to the space agency.
China has delayed the planned return of three astronauts from its Tiangong space station after their spacecraft was suspected to have been hit by space debris, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced.
Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui, and Chen Dong, who flew to the orbiting station in April as part of the Shenzhou-20 mission, were due to return to Earth on Tuesday after a six-month stay. Their replacements — the Shenzhou-21 crew — arrived at Tiangong over the weekend.
“The Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft is suspected to have been struck by a small piece of orbital debris, and assessment of the impact and associated risks is currently underway,” the CMSA said. “To ensure the health and safety of the astronauts and the successful completion of the mission, it has been decided that the originally planned return of Shenzhou-20 on November 5 will be postponed.”
Authorities have not specified when the debris incident occurred or whether it happened during flight or while the spacecraft was docked. Both crews remain aboard Tiangong while a risk assessment continues.
State media earlier reported no technical issues, noting the two crews shared a meal of baked chicken prepared in the station’s first oven, delivered by Shenzhou-21. The teams held a formal handover ceremony on Tuesday.
Yu Jun, a popular Chinese science communicator known as Steed’s Scarf, said a contingency plan may be activated if the spacecraft is deemed unsafe. “Shenzhou-22 and the Long March 2F (launcher) were already on standby,” Yu wrote on Weibo.
