Associated Press

China’s Shenzhou 21 Docks with Space Station, Sets the Country’s Own Speed Record

Reuters
A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft with astronauts Zhang Hongzhang, Zhang Lu, and Wu Fei blasts off to China’s Tiangong space station from the launchpad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, Gansu Province, China, on Friday.

The Associated Press

10:34 JST, November 1, 2025

JIUQUAN, China (AP) — China announced Saturday that its Shenzhou 21 spaceship docked with China’s space station with its latest three rotation crew at the country’s own record speed after a successful launch.

The entire docking process lasted around 3.5 hours – three hours shorter than the previous missions, according to China Manned Space Agency.

The Shenzhou 21 spaceship took off as planned at 11:44 p.m. local time Friday from the Jiuquan launch center in northwestern China. The three astronauts on Shenzhou 21 are planned to enter the Tianhe core module of the space station after the dock.

The crew includes pilot and mission commander Zhang Lu, who also was on the Shenzhou 15 mission to the space station two years ago.

The other two are flying for the first time. Wu Fei, 32, an engineer, is the country’s youngest astronaut to join a spaceflight. Zhang Hongzhang is a payload specialist who was a researcher focusing on new energy and new materials before becoming an astronaut.

Zhang said the team would turn the space station into a “utopia” by doing tai-chi, gardening and appreciating poetry on the Tiangong space station. Like those before them, they will stay at the station for roughly six months.

While in space, the astronauts planned to conduct 27 scientific and applied projects in biotechnology, aerospace medicine, materials science and other areas.