Space Ops: China Crew Rotation

A pair of rookie Chinese taikonauts joined veteran commander Cai Xuzhe for a 6 1/2-hr. ride to China’s Tiangong space station to kick off a planned six-month increment.

The trio lifted off aboard a Long March 2F rocket at 4:27 p.m. EDT Oct. 29/4:27 a.m. Oct. 30 local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. Joining Xuzhe for the Shenzhou-19 mission are Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, both 34 and making their first flights. Xuzhe, 44, previously flew as a member of the 2022 Shenzhou-14 mission.

Shenzhou-19 is the 14th crewed Chinese spaceflight and the eighth to the country’s Tiangong space station. The new crew replaces the Shenzhou-18 taikonauts, who are due to return to Earth on Nov. 4.

That same day, SpaceX is due to launch its 31st cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA. Launch from Kennedy Space Center is targeted for 9:29 p.m. EST.

Also on tap next week is a Rocket Lab Electron launch from New Zealand for an undisclosed commercial customer. Liftoff is scheduled for 5:30 a.m. EST Nov. 4/11:30 p.m. local time. Rocket Lab says the mission marks its fastest turnaround from contract signing, which occurred two months ago, to launch to far.

The payload, intended orbit and deployment plans were not disclosed before launch.

SpaceX continues to build out its Starlink broadband network with batches of satellites that include direct-to-cell communications (DTC) services. With the arrival of 13 Starlink spacecraft early Oct. 30, the constellation now includes 260 satellites with DTC capabilities. SpaceX expects its DTC constellation to be complete after five more successful missions, Ben Longmier, SpaceX senior director of satellite engineering, wrote on X.

SpaceX’s partners in its DTC service includes T-Mobile, One New Zealand and Canada’s Rogers.

—Irene Klotz