China has made remarkable strides in the construction of its space station, particularly in improving the space rendezvous and docking technology.
The Tianzhou-9 cargo spacecraft on Tuesday docked with the Chinese space station in just three hours, delivering approximately 6.5 tonnes of supplies to the Chinese astronauts in space.
China's first space rendezvous and docking took place on November 3, 2011, when Shenzhou-8 successfully docked with Tiangong-1, completing the operation in 44 hours. This marked a significant breakthrough of China's space exploration.
On April 22, 2017, the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft completed its first rapid rendezvous and docking with the Tiangong-2 space laboratory in 6.5 hours during an in-orbit test.
Starting in 2021, the Tianzhou-2 to Tianzhou-4 missions all adopted the 6.5-hour rendezvous and docking plan.
On November 12, 2022, the Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraft set a world record for completing the rendezvous and docking process in just two hours.
In 2024, the Tianzhou-7 and Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft achieved rendezvous and docking in three hours, successfully making this method the standard docking mode for cargo spacecraft.
In the vast space, two massive steel giants, weighing tens of tons and traveling at thousands of meters per second, must connect with pinpoint accuracy.
To achieve this goal, China employs a three-level positioning principle for targeting. The BeiDou Navigation System first brings the spacecraft within five kilometers of the space station. The two spacecraft then close the distance to within 100 meters. Finally, laser radar achieves millimeter-level positioning when they are 20 meters apart.
China's lunar exploration program is advancing as a gateway to deeper space opens. Chang'e-5 and 6 successfully conducted unmanned rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit, returning with lunar samples. Upcoming manned missions are set to include multiple rendezvous and dockings in lunar orbit.
China makes major advances in space station docking technology
China's development has never been a "threat" to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday.
Some Western media and think tanks are peddling so-called "China Shock 2.0," saying that "China is achieving fast development in high-tech sectors such as renewable energy and AI and relies on foreign markets to absorb its overcapacity, thus reducing the market share of developed countries and sending more serious shock waves to the global economy compared with the era of traditional manufacture industry," while there are foreign commentators saying that the "China Shock 2.0" argument ignores the genuine innovation occurring within the Chinese industrial ecosystem and that Chinese export is the exact booster of the global economy that is needed in the turbulent period and more indispensable than ever.
Commenting on that, Lin said: "From the world's factory to the world's market and innovation powerhouse, China's development is achieved through strong performance driven by innovation and brings tangible cooperation opportunities and space to the world. High-quality Chinese products represented by the 'old three' of textiles, furniture and home appliances have stabilized the global industrial and supply chain, lowered the living cost of global consumers and eased the inflationary pressure worldwide. China's green production capacity represented by the 'new three' of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has bridged the gap between supply and demand in global green development and bolstered the global energy transition and low-carbon development. Moreover, China's high-tech products represented by the 'new new three' of robots, AI and innovative drugs have broken high-tech barriers and monopoly and enabled people in more countries to access affordable new technologies," said the spokesman.
"Openness and cooperation bring about progress and win-win result. China's development has never been a 'threat' to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries. What really creates 'shocks' to the world has never been the innovation of Chinese companies and efficiency of Chinese industrial capacity, but protectionist moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains. China will stay committed to high-standard opening up, defend the multilateral trading system and provide more certainty and new impetus to the world economy with its own steady development," said Lin.
China's development never a threat: FM spokesman
