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Deployment

Tianzhou at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)

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

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


Machine-readable surfaces

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

Safety record

No incidents on record for Tianzhou at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station).

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

Trust tier
Catalog entry · 1 source · not yet field-verified
Last updated
2026-07-09
Status
operational
First seen
2021-09-20
ID
c53666ec-3f99-465f-860d-84445e392c69

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 2026-07-09

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-09

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 (Tiangong Space Station).

Common questions

What is the Tianzhou deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)?
Tianzhou, built by China Manned Space Agency, is recorded as a deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station) on the DEPLOY registry. China Manned Space Agency operates the deployment directly.
Who operates Tianzhou at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)?
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 (Tiangong Space Station) 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 (Tiangong Space Station)?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.
Is Tianzhou at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station) safe?
Tianzhou at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station) has no incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. This does not constitute a safety guarantee; it reflects the incidents DEPLOY has tracked and verified to date.

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