Qingzhou (spacecraft)

The name Qingzhou, meaning "Light Boat", is derived from a famous poem by the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai: "The light boat has already passed ten thousand mountains" (). According to the developers, the name symbolizes the spirit of overcoming difficulties and the determination to explore the stars. == History ==

In May 2023, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) issued a public solicitation for proposals for a low-cost cargo transportation system. Key requirements included an upmass capacity of at least , a pressurized volume of at least , the ability to remain docked for at least three months, a waste disposal capacity of at least , and a target cost of no more than 120 million RMB per ton. In September 2023, IAMCAS's proposal was selected as one of the four finalists from ten submissions. By October 2024, the CMSA announced that the Qingzhou spacecraft and the Haolong cargo spaceplane (developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute) had won the final competition and were awarded contracts for flight verification. On 30 March 2026, a prototype version of Qingzhou was launched on the maiden flight of CAS Space's Kinetica 2. == Design ==

Qingzhou features an integrated single-cabin configuration consisting of a cylindrical pressurized module with a conical nose and an unpressurized aft section. The spacecraft is approximately long with a diameter of . The interior provides a pressurized volume of and a cargo capacity of and . The cargo bay utilizes a four-tier shelving system with 40 compartments and can accommodate up to five 60-liter cold chain containers for biological or medical supplies. The spacecraft is designed to support both crewed and uncrewed space science experiments and various on-orbit testing tasks, but also to be lighter and lower-cost than the existing Tianzhou. == See also ==