Space lab undergoes propellant injection, preparations ahead of launch

Propellant injection work on the Mengtian space lab, the second lab component of China's Tiangong space station, was conducted on Monday morning at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a news release that the lab module has undergone ground tests at the center and will undergo checks of its functions along with its carrier, a Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket.

Preparations for the launch mission scheduled for this month are underway at the center, it noted.

The craft was transported to Wenchang by ship in early August.

Mengtian is about 17 meters long, has a diameter of 4 meters and weighs more than 20 metric tons, according to its designers at the China Academy of Space Technology.

Scientific equipment onboard will be used for microgravity studies and to carry out experiments in fluid physics, materials science, combustion science and fundamental physics.

Wentian, Tiangong station's first lab module, was launched on July 24 on a Long March 5B heavy-lift rocket from the Wenchang center.

Tiangong is currently composed of four modules: the Tianhe core module, the Wentian lab, the Tianzhou 4 cargo ship and the Shenzhou XIV spacecraft. It is manned by three astronauts on the Shenzhou XIV mission who arrived in early June.

Once Mengtian is connected to Tiangong, the station will be T-shaped and astronauts will have as much as 110 cubic meters of usable space.

The Tianzhou 5 cargo craft and the Shenzhou XV crew are scheduled to arrive at the massive orbiting outpost toward the end of the year.