A crew of three Chinese astronauts — including the nation’s youngest ever — successfully docked with the Tiangong space station early Saturday, November 1, joined by an unexpected group of passengers: four laboratory mice.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft linked up with Tiangong at 3:35 a.m. Saturday (1935 GMT Friday, October 31), roughly four hours after launching aboard a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
The Tiangong station, which hosts rotating three-person crews every six months, stands as the centerpiece of China’s multibillion-dollar effort to become a leading space power — a program aimed at rivaling the United States and Russia in space exploration.
China’s long-term goals include sending astronauts to the Moon before 2030 and eventually building a lunar base, part of what President Xi Jinping has called the nation’s “space dream.”
The Shenzhou-21 mission is led by Commander Zhang Lu, a veteran astronaut, alongside Flight Engineer Wu Fei, 32, China’s youngest spacefarer to date, and Payload Specialist Zhang Hongzhang, 39.
Before liftoff, the trio waved farewell to family and colleagues at the Gobi Desert launch base as a military band played a patriotic anthem. “We will report back to our motherland and its people with complete success,” Commander Zhang told reporters.
First-time astronaut Wu Fei expressed excitement about his role, saying he felt “incomparably lucky” to join the mission.
Accompanying the crew are four mice — two male and two female — part of China’s first in-orbit biological experiments involving rodents. Scientists hope the research will reveal how prolonged exposure to space affects mammalian physiology.
China’s space program — the third in history to send humans into orbit after the United States and the Soviet Union — has advanced rapidly in recent years.
Milestones include the Chang’e-4 probe’s historic landing on the far side of the Moon in 2019 and the deployment of a Mars rover in 2021.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said Thursday that it is now preparing for “crucial upcoming tests” related to the country’s 2030 Moon landing plans.
During their stay aboard Tiangong, the Shenzhou-21 astronauts will perform spacewalks, conduct scientific experiments, and install anti-debris shields to protect the station from space junk.
The mission also includes a public education and outreach initiative designed to inspire young people and foster international cooperation in space science.
Barred from participating in the International Space Station (ISS) since 2011 — when U.S. legislation prohibited NASA from collaborating with China — Beijing has expanded partnerships with other countries. In February 2025, it signed an agreement with Pakistan to train the first foreign “taikonauts,” signaling China’s growing ambition to lead a new era of global space collaboration.
