The three Chinese astronauts who were stranded in space for more than a week are now back on Earth. The three landed at 5.21pm. (Beijing time, seven hours slower in mainland Spain). “They left the capsule safely and are in good health,” the China Manned Space Flight Agency reported, accompanying the statement with a photo of the astronauts smiling outside the capsule. The landing took place in Dongfeng, in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, in northern China.
Their return was scheduled for November 5, but was delayed after the aforementioned agency reported risks due to the “suspected” impact of “a small piece of space debris” on the ship they were supposed to return with, the Shenzhou-20.
Finally, the three crew members, who spent more than six months on the Chinese Tiangong space station, began maneuvers to return home this Friday. But they did not do so aboard their return ship, but rather on that of the replacement mission, the Shenzhou-21.
“On the morning of November 14, 2025, at 11:14 am (Beijing time), the Shenzhou-21 manned spacecraft successfully separated from the space station complex,” the space agency reported this morning. “Next, the Shenzhou-21 return capsule will return at the appropriate time under remote control from the ground, and astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie are about to embark on the return journey.”
The three members of the Shenzhou 20 crew took off on April 24 from the historic Chinese base of Jiuquan, in the heart of the Gobi desert (northwest of the country), headed to the Chinese Tiangong space station, where they have lived since then, until this Friday.
Typically, Shenzhou missions end with the arrival of the rescue crew and relinquishing control of operations to the space station. On days when the two missions coincide, their ships remain docked at the station. In this case, due to the damage suffered by the Shenzhou-20, the crew was forced to use the other return vehicle, which leaves the Shenzhou-21 astronauts for a few days without a return vessel.
“The side window glass of the return capsule of the Shenzhou-20 manned spacecraft had a microcrack, likely caused by the external impact of space debris, thus it did not meet the safety conditions necessary to authorize a crewed return,” the agency explained after a “thorough assessment” based on photographic interpretation, design verification, simulation analysis and wind tunnel testing. “Shenzhou-20 will remain in orbit to continue the corresponding experiments.”
The three astronauts involved in 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 Chinese Air Force pilot – and Wang Jie – aerospace engineer, 36 years old -. The three spent 204 days in orbit, time spent conducting scientific experiments in search of advances in the space race. Chen, who was undertaking his third space journey, is already the Chinese astronaut who has spent the longest time in space: he has been in space for 418 days. Furthermore, with six, he is the one who has carried out the most extravehicular activities.
“Every space journey is unique. We hope to gain more experience and progress in the operation. The most important thing in this task is to complete our work without errors,” the commander confessed in an appearance in Jiuqian last April, a few hours before liftoff. “Let the vast space witness the endless loyalty of Chinese space soldiers.”
Its replacement, the Shenzhou-21 mission, consisting of three more crew members, took off on October 31, and its ship successfully docked with the Tiangong within hours. The six astronauts were supposed to live together on the space station until November 5, but the unexpected event on the return ship forced a change of plans, which is unusual in China’s space program.
Given the situation, the Manned Space Flight Agency announced Tuesday that it is implementing “contingency plans and measures” following the “life and safety first” principle. He also assured that the space station complex was “in normal condition” and was capable of maintaining two teams of astronauts in orbit. “The crew of the Shenzhou-20 mission work and live normally and conduct scientific experiments in orbit together with the crew of the Shenzhou-21 mission,” he said.
The Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post 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 expected, the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft will be launched at the right time,” the Chinese Space Agency simply reported Friday.
China’s Tiangong station is something like a star laboratory, where tests related to the space race are carried out. The crew of Shenzhou-20 has carried out experiments in space life sciences, microgravity physics and new space technologies. They have also sought to make progress in areas such as growing chips for vascularized brain organoids (cells that resemble the human brain), the nonequilibrium dynamics of soft matter, and the spatial preparation of high-temperature superconducting materials.
Its rotation, composed of Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang, has among its various scientific and technological objectives the mission of installing protective devices against space debris. They will carry out experiments in fields such as life sciences and space biotechnology. Astronauts traveled into space with four mice (two female and two male) to study the effects of weightlessness and confinement on their behavioral patterns.
