THE unmanned Shenzhou-22 spacecraft arrived at the Tiangong space station Tuesday afternoon, delivering crew provisions and mission payloads to the orbiting outpost. The mission marked the first emergency-response flight in the history of China’s manned space program.

A Long March 2F rocket carrying the spacecraft lifted off at 12:11 p.m. from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Approximately 10 minutes after launch, the spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. After a three-and-a-half-hour flight on an elaborately designed trajectory, it docked with the front port of the station’s Tianhe core module.

The Shenzhou-22 was originally scheduled to transport a crew to Tiangong in April 2026. However, space authorities had to rearrange their plans due to an unexpected situation.

The Shenzhou-20 vessel, which was meant to return that mission’s astronauts to Earth on Nov. 5, was deemed unfit to fly after tiny cracks were discovered on the viewport window of its return capsule — damage suspected to have been caused by the impact of space debris.

After the Shenzhou-20 crew used the Shenzhou-21 vessel for their return journey on Nov. 14, Tiangong was left without a flight-worthy crew ship for 11 days.

According to the agency, Shenzhou-22 carries a full cargo load, including packaged premade meals, fresh fruits and vegetables, medicines, equipment for Tiangong’s operations, and tools to repair the damage on the Shenzhou-20 vessel. It added that Shenzhou-20 will remain docked at the space station to serve as a platform for tests and experiments.

Orbiting Earth at an altitude of about 400 kilometers, Tiangong is currently the only operational space station independently run by a single nation.(SD-Agencies)