This simulated image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Nov. 12, 2022 shows China's cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-5 having conducted a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the combination of the space station Tiangong. (Photo by Sun Fengxiao/Xinhua)
BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- China's Tianzhou-5 cargo craft, tasked with supporting the Shenzhou-15 crewed space mission, separated from the orbiting space station combination at 3:26 p.m. Friday (Beijing Time) and switched to independent flight, the China Manned Space Agency said.
China launched the Tianzhou-5 on Nov. 12, 2022 from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern province of Hainan. It was loaded with six months of supplies for three Shenzhou-15 taikonauts, propellant and experiment facilities.
After the Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship separates from the station combination, the Tianzhou-5 will orbit and dock at the forward port of the station's node cabin, the agency said in a statement. ■
