List of Tiangong Space Station expeditions explained

This is a chronological list of permanent expeditions to Tiangong space station, a Chinese space station in low Earth orbit from 2021. An expedition to the TSS refers to the crew that is occupying the space station and using it for research and testing. Expeditions can last up to six months and include three during the regular station and six crew members during the time of crew swap.^[1] Starting with Expedition 3 (Shenzhou 14), crew rotation will overlap, hence the station will be continuously inhabited.

Expeditions are numbered starting from one and sequentially increased with each expedition. Resupply mission crews and space tourists are excluded (see List of human spaceflights to the Tiangong space station for details). TSS commanders are listed in bold. "Duration" is the period of time between the crew's launch from Earth and until their decoupling from the TSS.

Past expeditions

Expedition	Crew	Arrival		Departure		Duration (days)
		Date	Flight	Date	Flight
Expedition 1^[2]	Nie Haisheng Liu Boming Tang Hongbo	17 June 2021 07:54 UTC	Shenzhou 12	16 September 2021 00:56 UTC	Shenzhou 12	~91 days
station uncrewed
Expedition 2^[3]	Zhai Zhigang Ye Guangfu Wang Yaping	15 October 2021 22:56 UTC	Shenzhou 13	15 April 2022 16:44 UTC	Shenzhou 13	~182 days
station uncrewed
Expedition 3^[4]	Chen Dong Liu Yang Cai Xuzhe	5 June 2022 09:42 UTC	Shenzhou 14	4 December 2022 03:01 UTC	Shenzhou 14	~182 days
	Fei Junlong Deng Qingming Zhang Lu	29 November 2022 21:42 UTC	Shenzhou 15	Transferred to Expedition 4
Expedition 4^[5]	Fei Junlong Deng Qingming Zhang Lu	Transferred from Expedition 3		3 June 2023 13:29 UTC	Shenzhou 15	~186 days
	Jing Haipeng Zhu Yangzhu Gui Haichao	30 May 2023 08:29 UTC	Shenzhou 16	Transferred to Expedition 5
Expedition 5	Jing Haipeng Zhu Yangzhu Gui Haichao	Transferred from Expedition 4		30 October 2023 12:37 UTC	Shenzhou 16	~153 days
	Tang Hongbo Tang Shengjie Jiang Xinlin	26 October 2023 09:46 UTC	Shenzhou 17	Transferred to Expedition 6
Expedition 6^[6]	Tang Hongbo Tang Shengjie Jiang Xinlin	Transferred from Expedition 5		30 April 2024 00:43 UTC	Shenzhou 17	~187 days
		25 April 2024 19:32 UTC	Shenzhou 18	Transferred to Expedition 7

Current expedition

Expedition	Crew	Arrival		Departure		Duration (days)
		Date	Flight	Date	Flight
Expedition 7^[7]	Ye Guangfu Li Cong Li Guangsu	Transferred from Expedition 6		October 2024 (planned)	Shenzhou 18	~180 days (planned)
		October 2024 (planned)	Shenzhou 19	Will transfer to Expedition 8

Future expeditions

Expedition	Crew	Arrival		Departure		Duration (days)
		Date	Flight	Date	Flight
Expedition 8^[8]	TBA TBA TBA	Will transfer from Expedition 7		Q2 2025 (planned)	Shenzhou 20	~180 days (planned)
	TBA TBA TBA	Q4 2025 (planned)	Shenzhou 21	Will transfer to Expedition 9

See also

• List of Mir Expeditions
• List of International Space Station expeditions
• List of visiting expeditions to the International Space Station
• List of ESA space expeditions

Notes and References

1. Web site: China's space station to host 6 astronauts by end of 2022-Xinhua.
2. Web site: Tiangong: Expedition 1 . 2022-04-16 . spacefacts.de.
3. Web site: Tiangong: Expedition 2 . 2022-04-16 . spacefacts.de.
4. 1511571503879389184 . China Spaceflight . CNSpaceflight . 6 April 2022 . Shenzhou 14 to be launched by Long March 2F Y14 on June.05 2022. . 11 May 2022.
5. 1511571503879389184 . China Spaceflight . CNSpaceflight . 6 April 2022 . Shenzhou 14 to be launched by Long March 2F Y14 on June.05 2022. . 11 May 2022.
6. Web site: Jones . Andrew . Shenzhou-12 astronauts return to Earth after 3-month space station mission . . 17 September 2021 . 11 May 2022.
7. Web site: Jones . Andrew . Shenzhou-12 astronauts return to Earth after 3-month space station mission . . 17 September 2021 . 11 May 2022.
8. Web site: Jones . Andrew . Shenzhou-12 astronauts return to Earth after 3-month space station mission . . 17 September 2021 . 11 May 2022.