The three Chinese astronauts stranded in space for more than a week are now back on Earth. The three landed at 5:21 p.m. (Beijing time, seven hours less in mainland Spain). “They have left the capsule safely and are in good health,” reported the , which accompanies the statement with a photo of the smiling astronauts outside the capsule. The landing took place in Dongfeng, in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, in northern China.
Their return had been scheduled for November 5, but was delayed after the aforementioned agency reported the risks due to the “suspected” impact of “a small fragment of space debris” on the ship in which they were to return, the Shenzhou-20.
Finally, the three crew members, who have spent more than six months on the Chinese Tiangong space station, began maneuvers this Friday to return home. But they did not do it aboard their return ship, but rather on that of the replacement mission, Shenzhou-21.
“On the morning of November 14, 2025, at 11:14 (Beijing time), the Shenzhou-21 manned spacecraft successfully separated from the space station complex,” the space agency reported this morning through. “Next, the Shenzhou-21 return capsule will re-entry at an opportune time under ground-based remote control, and astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie are about to embark on the journey home.”
The three crew members of the Shenzhou 20 took off on April 24 from the historic Chinese base of Jiuquan, in the heart of the Gobi Desert (northwest of the country), heading to , where they have lived since then, until this Friday.
Typically, Shenzhou missions end with the arrival of the relief crew and handing over control of operations at the space station. During the days when the two missions coincide, their ships remain docked with the station. In this case, due to the damage to Shenzhou-20, the crew has been forced to use the other return vehicle, which leaves the Shenzhou-21 astronauts for a few days without a return ship.
“The glass of the side window of the return capsule of the Shenzhou-20 manned spacecraft had a microcrack, probably caused by the external impact of space debris, so it did not meet the safety conditions necessary to authorize a manned return,” the agency explained after a “comprehensive evaluation” based on photographic interpretation, design verification, simulation analyzes and wind tunnel tests. “Shenzhou-20 will remain in orbit to continue the corresponding experiments.”
The three astronauts undertaking the return are Chen Dong – mission commander, 46 years old, former fighter pilot, and with a long list of decorations – Chen Zhongrui – 41 years old, also a former pilot in the Chinese air force – and Wang Jie – aerospace engineer, 36 years old -. The three have spent 204 days in orbit, time spent conducting scientific experiments. Chen, who was facing his third trip to space, is already the Chinese astronaut who has spent the longest time in space: he has been in space for 418 days. Also, with six, he is the one who has carried out the most extravehicular activities.
“Each space trip is unique. We hope to gain more experience and advances in the operation. The most important thing in this task is to complete our work with zero errors,” the commander confessed in an appearance in Jiuqian last April, hours before takeoff. “Let the vast space witness the infinite loyalty of the Chinese space soldiers.”
Its replacement, the Shenzhou-21 mission, made up of three other crew members, took off on October 31, and its ship successfully docked with the Tiangong within a few hours. The six astronauts were scheduled to live together on the space station until November 5, but the setback that occurred on the return ship has forced a change of plans, something unusual in the Chinese space program.
Given the situation, the Manned Space Flight Agency announced on Tuesday that it was implementing “emergency plans and measures” following the principle of “life and safety first.” He also assured that the space station complex was “in normal condition” and was capable of keeping two teams of astronauts in orbit. “The crew of the Shenzhou-20 mission works and lives normally, and conducts scientific experiments in orbit together with the crew of the Shenzhou-21 mission,” he stated.
The Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post has assured, through anonymous sources, that the Shenzhou-22, originally built for the next crew rotation, scheduled to launch next spring, is already being prepared and supplied at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. “As planned, the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft will be launched at the right time,” the Chinese Space Agency simply reported this Friday.
The Chinese Tiangong station is something similar to a stellar laboratory, where tests linked to the space race are carried out. The crew of the Shenzhou-20 has carried out experiments in space life sciences, microgravity physics and new space technologies. They also sought to make progress in areas such as the cultivation of chips for (cells that resemble the human brain), the nonequilibrium dynamics of soft matter, and the space-based preparation of high-temperature superconducting materials.
Its rotation, made up of Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang, has among its various scientific and technological objectives the mission of installing protection devices against space debris. They will do experiments in fields such as life sciences and space biotechnology. Astronauts have traveled to space with four mice (two female and two male) to study the effects of weightlessness and confinement on their behavioral patterns.
