Three Chinese astronauts stranded on Tiangong space station after debris hits return capsule

Three Chinese astronauts were temporarily stranded in space after their return capsule was hit by debris believed to be “space junk” hours before they were scheduled to depart. Officials are investigating exactly what happened, but so far there is no indication of the extent of damage to the spacecraft or when the crew will return to Earth.

The trio of Tyco astronauts Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui, and Chen Dong, collectively known as the Shenzhou 20 crew, have been living at China’s Tiangong Space Station since April 24. They successfully completed a handover period with the Shenzhou 21 crew, which arrived at the station on Halloween (October 31st), and were scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday (November 5th). However, early Wednesday morning, around 10:30 a.m. local time, representatives of the China Manned Space Administration (CMSA) announced through a statement posted on Chinese social media site Weibo that the astronauts’ return had been postponed.

The stated reason for the delay was that the crew’s return capsule was “suspected to have been affected by small space debris,” CMSA representatives said in a translated statement. The agency added that “impact analysis and risk assessments are underway” to ensure the health and safety of all six Taiko astronauts currently on board the space station. However, other details have not yet been announced.

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The potentially damaged spacecraft may still be docked at Tiangong Space Station, where it has been since delivering the Shenzhou 20 crew there in April. According to Ars Technica, it consists of three removable sections: a power and propulsion module, a crew quarters, and a parachute-assisted return module.

If any of these sections are deemed unsafe, the spacecraft could be ejected and return to Earth without the astronauts. In this case, CNSA guidelines suggest that the Shenzhou 20 crew would return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou 21 return module, which would be replaced by another spacecraft that CMSA has on standby, Reuters reported.

During the ongoing mission, Shenzhou 20’s commander Chen Dong has broken the record for the most days in space by a Chinese astronaut, having now spent more than 400 days in Earth orbit. This delay will extend this record even further. (The current record for nonconsecutive days in space is held by Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who has accumulated 1,111 days in space.)

Dong’s situation is reminiscent of that of NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who inadvertently broke the American record for longest spaceflight (371 days) in September 2023 after his return module was irreparably damaged by a meteorite while docking at the International Space Station (ISS).

In March, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams made headlines when they returned to Earth nine months after their first week-long mission. Their stay on the ISS was extended due to multiple technical issues with the Boeing Starliner’s capsule.

This is not the first time that China’s space station has been affected by space debris. In 2023, one of the station’s solar panels was hit by debris, causing a partial power outage, Ars Technica said. As a result, additional shielding was added to parts of the station’s exterior during recent spacewalks.

The ISS is also susceptible to space debris and must constantly reposition itself to avoid large debris. Parts of the space station, such as the Canadarm2 robotic arm, have been damaged by impacts from small debris over the years.

The amount of space junk orbiting Earth is rapidly increasing in parallel with the increase in the number of spacecraft around Earth. Some experts fear that a chain reaction of collisions could reach a point of no return, rendering low-Earth orbit unusable. This theoretical scenario is known as “Kessler syndrome.”

Meanwhile, national space agencies and private companies are testing various space debris mitigation strategies.