Engineering:Shenzhou 21

Shenzhou 21

Litoff of Shenzhou 21
Mission type	Tiangong space station crew transport
Operator	China Manned Space Agency
Mission duration	57 days, 22 hours, 57 minutes (in progress) 180 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Shenzhou
Manufacturer	China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Zhang Lu Wu Fei Zhang Hongzhang
Start of mission
Launch date	31 October 2025, 15:44:46 UTC (23:44:46 CST)
Rocket	Long March 2F
Launch site	Jiuquan, LA-4/SLS
Contractor	China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology
End of mission
Landing date	2026 (planned)
Landing site	Inner Mongolia, China
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Inclination	41.5°
Docking with Tiangong space station
Docking port	Tianhe forward
Docking date	31 October 2025, 19:22 UTC
Undocking date	2026 (planned)
Time docked	57 days, 19 hours, 20 minutes (in progress)
Mission patch China Manned Space Program

Shenzhou 21 (Chinese: 神舟二十一号; pinyin: Shénzhōu èrshíyī-hào; literally: 'Divine Boat Number 21') is a Chinese spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, launched on 31 October 2025. It carried three taikonauts on board a Shenzhou spacecraft. The mission is the 16th crewed Chinese spaceflight and the 21st flight overall of the Shenzhou program. The flight marks the tenth crew rotation to the Tiangong station, which has been continuously occupied since June 2021.

Crew

The crew for the Shenzhou 21 mission was selected in February 2025, but, in keeping with China's past practice, their names were not announced until the day before the launch. The mission is commanded by Zhang Lu, who previously flew on Shenzhou 15 in 2022–23. He is joined by flight engineer Wu Fei, a researcher at the China Academy of Space Technology, and Zhang Hongzhang, a payload specialist from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics. Wu, aged 32 at launch, became the youngest taikonaut to fly in space. Both Wu and Zhang Hongzhang were selected in 2020 as part of China's third group of taikonauts.

Position	Crew member
Commander	Zhang Lu, CMSA Second spaceflight
Flight engineer	Wu Fei, CMSA First spaceflight
Payload specialist	Zhang Hongzhang, CMSA First spaceflight

Mission

Launch

Shenzhou 21 was launched aboard a Long March 2F rocket from Launch Area 4 at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 31 October 2025 at 15:44:46 UTC (23:44:46 CST, local time at the launch site).

Prior to launch, the taikonauts took part in a formal send-off ceremony at the Jiuquan Astronaut Systems Engineering Office—a tradition dating to Shenzhou 5 in 2003—before traveling by motorcade to the pad for spacecraft ingress about 2 hours, 20 minutes before liftoff.

Mission profile

After orbital insertion, Shenzhou 21 conducted a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the forward port of Tiangong's Tianhe core module at 19:22 UTC, taking approximately three and a half hours to reach the station. This was three hours faster than the Shenzhou 20 docking sequence and significantly faster than the two days trip prior to Shenzhou 14. Once docked to Tianhe's forward port, the crew entered the station and assumed operations from the departing Shenzhou 20 crew of Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, who have been in orbit since April 2025. The two crews are expected to overlap for about one week before Shenzhou 20 returns to Earth in early November 2025.

Objectives

During their six-month stay, the Shenzhou 21 crew will conduct 27 scientific experiments, including China's first study of rodent mammals in orbit. Four mice accompanied the crew to examine the effects of microgravity and confined living conditions; they will later return to Earth aboard Shenzhou 20. Other experiments will focus on new-energy research and biological adaptation in microgravity.

The crew is also expected to receive the Tianzhou 10 cargo spacecraft and prepare for handover to the Shenzhou 22 mission in 2026. They may become the first crew to utilize the upgraded Feitian space suits, delivered to the station by Tianzhou 9 earlier in the year.