Tiangong-3
| Station statistics | |
|---|---|
| Crew | 3 |
| Mission status | Cancelled |
| Mass | 22,000 kilograms (49,000 lb) |
| Length | 18.1 meters (59 ft) |
| Diameter | 4.2 meters (14 ft) |
Tiangong-3 (Chinese: ; pinyin: Tiāngōng sānhào; literally: "Heavenly Palace 3") was a proposed Chinese space station, part of the Tiangong space station program. The China National Space Agency was originally expected to launch Tiangong-3 around 2015, following the launch of the Tiangong-2 test laboratory, originally planned for 2013. The goals for the Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3 laboratories were eventually merged, and the latter was therefore not ordered.
In 2008, the China Manned Space Engineering Office published a brief description of Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3, indicating that several manned spaceships would be launched in the late 2010s to dock with Tiangong-3. The first Tiangong module, Tiangong-1, was launched in September 2011, and docked with the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft in November 2011, marking China's first orbital docking.
Tiangong-3's 22-metric-ton core module was expected to be around 18.1 metres (59 ft) long and will have a maximum diameter of 4.2 metres (14 ft). It is expected to provide:
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