The
China Manned Space Engineering Office published a brief description of Tiangong-2 and its successor
Tiangong-3 in 2008, indicating that at least two crewed spaceships would be launched to dock with Tiangong-2. to replace the prototype module
Tiangong-1, which was launched in September 2011. In March 2011, Chinese officials stated that Tiangong-2 was scheduled to be launched by 2015. An uncrewed cargo spacecraft would dock with the station, In September 2014, its launch was postponed to September 2016. Plans for visits in October 2016 by the crewed mission
Shenzhou 11 and the uncrewed resupply craft
Tianzhou were made public. The station was successfully launched from
Jiuquan aboard a
Long March 2F rocket on 15 September 2016.
Shenzhou 11 (Only Expedition) successfully docked with Tiangong-2 on 19 October 2016. Aboard the Shenzhou 11, launched from
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the
Gobi desert, were Commander
Jing Haipeng and
Chen Dong who formed the inaugural crew for the space laboratory. It was China's first crewed mission for more than three years. During the 30 days the two astronauts were aboard Tiangong-2, they conducted a number of scientific and technical experiments on the physiological effects of
weightlessness, tests on human-machine collaboration on in-orbit maintenance technology and released an accompanying satellite successfully. Accompanying photography and near-distance fly-by observation were also carried out. They collected abundant data and made some achievements in programs of
gamma-ray burst polarimeter, space cold
atomic clock and preparation of new materials. Shenzhou 11 separated from the orbiting Tiangong-2 space laboratory on 17 November 2016, reentry module landed successfully at the expected site in central
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at about 13:59 Beijing Time. In June 2018, Tiangong-2 performed orbital maneuvers lowering the orbit to 292 × 297 kilometers, likely in preparation for deorbiting. It then returned to its usual orbit. In July 2019, the
China Manned Space Engineering Office announced that it was planning to deorbit Tiangong-2 in the near future, but no specific date was given. The station subsequently made a controlled reentry on 19 July 2019 and burned up over the
South Pacific Ocean. == Dimensions ==