Tiangong space station
Chinese space station in low Earth orbit
The Tiangong space station (Chinese: 天宫; pinyin: Tiāngōng; lit. 'Heavenly Palace'), officially in English the China Space Station (CSS; 中国空间站; Zhōngguó kōngjiānzhàn), is China's first permanently crewed space station, in low Earth orbit since 2021. Operated by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), it is China's third space station, under the Tiangong subprogram of the China Manned Space Program. A space laboratory, it hosts experiments on bioastronautics, microgravity, materials science and space technology. Crews of three travel aboard the Shenzhou spacecraft for missions of about six months, with temporary crew sizes of six during handovers. Cargo missions use the Tianzhou spacecraft. It is one of two operational space stations, alongside the International Space Station (ISS).
When China formally requested to join the ISS program in 2007, Roscosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA) supported cooperation with China, but the Wolf Amendment, enacted by the United States since 2011, prohibited Chinese participation. That same year, China launched Tiangong-1, gaining rendezvous and docking experience. In 2016, Tiangong-2 developed longer-term life support systems, and autonomous docking and refueling via Tianzhou.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Tiangong space station” as chinese space station in low Earth orbit. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as chinese space station in low Earth orbit. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5100935. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 2007, 2011 and 2016.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Tiangong space station”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Tiangong space station primary sources, Tiangong space station archive and Tiangong research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Tiangong space station”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Tiangong space station” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.