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Deployment

Tianzhou at Low Earth Orbit

Autonomous cargo spacecraft performing fast autonomous rendezvous-and-docking with the Tiangong space station.

Tianzhou by China Manned Space Agency · Catalog entry · 1 source · not yet field-verified · Space

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Tianzhou robotic cargo spacecraft conducting regular resupply missions to the Tiangong space station since Tianzhou-3 in September 2021. Four cargo resupply missions completed as of 2026.

Key facts

Cargo capacity
~6.5 tons dry cargo + ~2 tons propellant

Exposure

Customer segment
research
Scale tier
commercial 10 99

Each exposure value carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.

Safety record

1 incident on record (1 serious). Most recent: Oct 2025.

serious
1

Most recent: Oct 2025

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Incidents on record (1)

Direct incidents recorded against this deployment. Retracted incidents are excluded here but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Catalog entry · 1 source · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-08-21
Model
Tianzhou
Company
China Manned Space Agency
Location
Low Earth Orbit
Operator
China Manned Space Agency
Status
operational
Operator type
maker operated
Scale at site
11 to 100 units
Site environment
mixed
Location precision
verified coordinates
First seen
2021-09-20
ID
c53666ec-3f99-465f-860d-84445e392c69

Timeline

  1. Sep 2021
    First recorded
    Tianzhou first documented operating at Low Earth Orbit.
  2. Aug 2026
    Current status: operational, reviewed
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

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Tianzhou operates in Low Earth Orbit. Explore the full verified map:

Sources (1)

  1. Tiangong space station - Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station · 2021-09-20
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-08-21

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: production

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: space

Sources by quality tier

1
knowledge-base
Knowledge base

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Tianzhou at Low Earth Orbit.

Common questions

What is the Tianzhou deployment at Low Earth Orbit?
Tianzhou, built by China Manned Space Agency, is recorded as a deployment at Low Earth Orbit on the DEPLOY registry. China Manned Space Agency operates the deployment directly.
Who operates Tianzhou at Low Earth Orbit?
China Manned Space Agency, the manufacturer of Tianzhou, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the Tianzhou deployment at Low Earth Orbit go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting September 20, 2021 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the Tianzhou deployment at Low Earth Orbit?
1 active incident affecting this deployment is on the DEPLOY registry. Each is a sourced, append-only record; retracted incidents are suppressed from this view.
Is Tianzhou at Low Earth Orbit safe?
Tianzhou at Low Earth Orbit has 1 active incident on record in the DEPLOY registry. 1 incident on record (1 serious). Most recent: Oct 2025. Retracted incidents are excluded from this count.

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