Schedule released for Shenzhou XV crew's return

The Shenzhou XV mission crew, now stationed at the Tiangong space station, is scheduled to return to Earth in June, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a news release the station and astronauts are in good condition.

It noted the Tianzhou 6 robotic cargo ship and the Shenzhou XVI and Shenzhou XVII spacecraft are scheduled to dock with the Tiangong this year.

Tianzhou 6 has arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province to undergo pre-launch checks for its scheduled flight in May. The crews for the Shenzhou XVI and Shenzhou XVII missions are training for their coming journey.

In addition, the first experiments proposed by foreign scientists and jointly selected by the Chinese agency and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs will start to be transported to the Tiangong station, according to the release.

The Shenzhou XV crew members — Major General Fei Junlong, the mission commander, Senior Colonel Deng Qingming and Senior Colonel Zhang Lu — arrived at the Chinese space station on Nov 30. At present, the astronauts have lived inside the space station for 102 days.

They have carried out two spacewalks to mount equipment outside the station and have installed mission equipment and conducted scientific experiments and technological demonstrations.

The agency also said scientists and engineers have been planning for manned landing on the moon, the biggest goal for China's space industry to achieve by the end of this decade.