China launches Shenzhou-22 to bring Tiangong astronauts back home safely

China has launched a second spacecraft within a month for the stranded replacement team at the Chinese Space Station. The mission was launched on Tuesday, November 25, 2025.

The Shenzhou 22 spacecraft launch comes just days after Shenzhou 21 was used to bring back the Shenzhou 20’s stranded astronauts whose spacecraft was damaged due to space debris.

The Shenzhou 20’s replacement crew docked at the China space station on November 1 and the recently launched spacecraft will be used by them to return to Earth next year (2026).

State broadcaster CCTV has revealed that plans are in place to bring the damaged vehicle back to Earth and assess it later, but for now, it remains in space.

Tiangong space station is the only space station sent and operated solely by a single country, China.

It developed and deployed the capability soon after the United States (U.S.) blocked the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from cooperating with China on space missions citing security concerns.

Tiangong Space Station is much smaller than the International Space Station. 

Since its launch in 2021, the permanently manned space station has hosted multiple three-member crews for six months missions.