Tianzhou 2 is the second of the 11 missions required to complete China’s first permanent space station.

In the second mission in a series of missions required to complete its first permanent space station, China has successfully launched an autonomous replenishment spacecraft and rendezvous with an orbital module.

The China Manned Space Engineering Office said on Saturday that a Long March 7 Y3 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Island, South China’s South China Sea, launched the “Tianzhou II”, which means “Skyship” in Chinese.

“Tianzhou 2” is the second of the 11 missions required to complete China’s first self-developed space station around 2022, and is after the launch of “Tianzhou 2” Key Module Tianhe In late April.

Tianhe (Tianhe) is the third and largest orbital station launched by China’s increasingly ambitious space program.

This three-module space station will compete with the other only space station in service, the International Space Station (ISS), which is supported by countries including the United States, Russia, and Japan.

The United States prohibits China from participating in the International Space Station. Washington remains vigilant about the secrets surrounding China’s plan and its military ties.

Tianzhou-2 will automatically dock with Tianhe, and Tianhe will provide future astronauts and propellants to maintain its orbital altitude.

The official media said that due to technical reasons, the launch of the rocket was postponed this month.

As a test of the technology needed to support the construction of the space station, the first cargo spacecraft “Tianzhou One” was sent three times to refuel the “Tiangong 2” space laboratory in 2017.

In recent years, both the “Tiangong-1” and the early space laboratory “Tiangong-1” have been out of orbit.

Next year, China will use its largest and most powerful space transportation vehicle, Long March 5B, to launch two other core modules-Wentian and Mengtian.

The rocket was able to send 25 tons of payload into low Earth orbit, which was worrying at the beginning of May because it re-entered the atmosphere after sending Tianhe into orbit.

Media reports warned that the “core” phase of the rocket will re-enter “uncontrolled”, so that people will remember the debris from the first Long March 5B flight in May 2020, which will be damaged when it lands on Ivory Coast. building.

The remains of the rocket eventually fell harmlessly into the Indian Ocean, but China has been criticized for the lack of transparency in the timing and trajectory of debris entry.

From June to 2022, the smaller Long March-7 and 2F rockets will also be used to launch four manned spacecraft and four cargo spacecraft, with their maximum low-Earth payloads of 14 tons and 8.8 tons, respectively.