On Friday, October 31, at 15:44 UTC China’s Tiangong space station is ready to receive three new taikonauts (Chinese astronauts) at the Shenzhou 21 mission Site 901 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. The three taikonauts that are unknown will be in the Shenzhou capsule that will launch atop a Chang Zheng 2F/G (CZ-2F/G). Shenzhou 21 will mark the 26th CZ-2F mission and the second CZ-2F/G mission of 2025.
The names of the taikonauts are expected to be released approximately 24 hours before launch. Their Shenzhou spacecraft, whose design is closely based on Russia’s Soyuz, will mass roughly 8,100 kg at launch.
The CZ-2F/G which is also known as the Long March 2F/G is 62 m tall and 3.35 m in diameter. CZ-2F/G is a human-rated two-stage variant of the Chang Zheng 2E rocket and uses four liquid-fueled boosters with YF-20B engines, four YF-20B engines on the first stage, and one YF-24B engine on the second stage. Both stages and the boosters use stable but toxic nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) propellants.
This mission will mark the 16th Chinese human spaceflight mission and the 10th crewed mission to Tiangong.
