{"id":463220,"date":"2026-05-01T12:49:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T12:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/463220\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T12:49:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T12:49:30","slug":"chinas-tiangong-space-station-to-double-in-size-as-nasa-phases-out-iss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/463220\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s Tiangong space station to double in size as Nasa phases out ISS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>China has confirmed plans to expand its space station, potentially more than doubling in size to meet <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/science\/article\/3339221\/why-chinese-space-station-studying-how-gravity-affects-battery-performance?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">growing scientific demand<\/a> and expand international cooperation.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The ISS, led by Nasa and built with contributions from 15 countries, is the biggest structure in space and has been a laboratory for more than 3,000 experiments.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Nasa plans to retire the ISS in early 2031, using a dedicated deorbit vehicle being developed by SpaceX to guide it into a controlled re-entry over the South Pacific.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">China\u2019s T-shaped Tiangong space station will first be fitted with a fourth module \u2013 a multifunctional extension to the Tianhe core \u2013 turning it into a cross-shaped configuration, according to state broadcaster CCTV.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The new module will have multiple docking ports, including for a pair of future laboratory units, paving the way for a six-module structure with a total mass of about 180 tonnes.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">No timeline for the expansion has been released.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"China has confirmed plans to expand its space station, potentially more than doubling in size to meet growing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463221,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[270],"tags":[18898,381,20059,18,19,9128,17,15519,203609,58129,1024,2214,133,187731,451,2731,21475,203608,203607],"class_list":["post-463220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-cctv","tag-china","tag-china-academy-of-space-technology","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-international-space-station","tag-ireland","tag-iss","tag-long-march-b-rocket","tag-macau","tag-nasa","tag-pakistan","tag-science","tag-south-pacific","tag-space","tag-spacex","tag-tiangong","tag-tianhe","tag-united-nations-office-for-outer-space-affairs"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116499406221186136","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}