China prepares to launch Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceship

China

China prepares to launch Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceship

2025-10-24 13:09 Last Updated At：23:47

The combination of the Shenzhou-21 spaceship and its Long March-2F carrier rocket was transferred to the launch area of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Friday morning, as the country prepares to send another crew to its orbiting space station.

Carried by a mobile launch platform, the combination moved along 1.5 km of seamless rail toward the launch tower from the testing facility.

"This rocket incorporates 16 design changes, with the most important one being the fully upgraded optical navigation system, which greatly improves the redundant inertial measurement units and boost flight reliability," said Sun Yanqiu, an engineer of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

The Shenzhou-21 will be the 10th crewed mission since China began the initial construction of its space station and the sixth one since the space station entered the stage of application and development.

"After today's transfer, we will conduct checks on the combination's functions as well as a full-system launch rehearsal and an integrated rehearsal to verify compatibility between system interfaces, coordination and procedures. Once everything is confirmed normal, we will carry out rocket propellant filling and proceed to ignition and launch," said Zhao Lei, an engineer at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

According to schedule, the Shenzhou-21 crewed spacecraft is set to be launched at an appropriate time in the coming days.

The Shenzhou-21 crew will replace the astronauts of the Shenzhou-20 mission who have stayed in orbit for six months.

Chinese ministry of commerce urges EU to work with China for sound trade growth

Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong on Thursday urged the European Union (EU) to join hands with China in promoting the sound development of bilateral economic and trade ties.

Commenting on a possible trade agreement between the two sides following German delegations' recent visits to China at a press briefing in Beijing, He said China has always held an opening attitude toward trade ties with the EU.

"China and the EU are important economic and trade partners. Over the years, their cooperation has been built on a solid foundation, with strong growth momentum and deeply interwoven supply and industrial chains, forming a pattern of complementary strengths and mutual benefit. China has always maintained an open attitude toward bilateral trade arrangements with the EU and welcomes relevant proposals from European leaders," the spokesman said.

He underscored China's openness to deeper cooperation, but also cautioned that recent EU practices have posed challenges for Chinese enterprises.

"However, the EU has employed various trade tools including investigation to restrict Chinese enterprises over the recent years. We hope the EU will listen more to the voices of its member states and industries, abandon protectionist practices, and work with China in the same direction, replacing barriers with openness and cooperation, resolving frictions through dialogue and consultation, and jointly promoting the sound development of China-EU economic and trade relations," He said.