Chinese astronauts stranded in space after debris strikes return capsule during mission

A Chinese abstraction unit is stranded astatine the country’s Tiangong abstraction presumption aft tiny pieces of abstraction debris were believed to person struck their instrumentality capsule, China’s spaceflight bureau said Wednesday.

The three-member Shenzhou-20 squad had been scheduled to instrumentality to Earth connected Wednesday, but their ngo has been temporarily extended arsenic engineers behaviour interaction investigation and hazard assessments connected the damaged spacecraft, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said successful a statement.

Their instrumentality day has been postponed indefinitely, according to authorities broadcaster CCTV, which offered nary further details.

The crew's instrumentality capsule is believed to person been deed by tiny fragments of abstraction junk – an expanding hazard successful debased Earth orbit. CMSA has not specified the grade of the harm oregon what repairs, if any, volition beryllium required. If the spacecraft cannot beryllium repaired, protocol states the Shenzhou-20 unit volition usage the Shenzhou-21 team’s capsule to instrumentality to Earth.

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Astronauts, from left, Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui and Chen Dong, question during a departure ceremonial earlier boarding the Shenzhou-20 spaceship astatine the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center successful northwest China connected April 24, 2025. (Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images)

The Shenzhou programme regularly sends crews of 3 Chinese astronauts to and from the Tiangong abstraction presumption for six-month missions, wherever they transportation retired tasks ranging from technological experiments to repairing debris damage.

The Shenzhou-20 astronauts – ngo commandant Chen Dong, combatant aviator Chen Zhongrui and technologist Wang Jie – arrived astatine Tiangong successful April for a six-month rotation. They were nearing the extremity of their ngo erstwhile the contented occurred.

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Their replacements, portion of the Shenzhou-21 mission, successfully docked with the presumption connected Saturday. That unit consists of astronauts Zhang Hongzhang, Wu Fei and Zhang Lu.

Chinese astronauts for the Shenzhou-21 mission, from left, Zhang Hongzhang, Wu Fei and Zhang Lu question arsenic they be a see-off ceremonial astatine the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center successful China, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

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Since launching its crewed spaceflight programme successful 2003, China has steadily expanded its capabilities – gathering its ain abstraction presumption and mounting its sights connected landing astronauts connected the satellite by 2030.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.