Tianzhou 7 cargo spaceship moved to launch tower

The Long March 7 rocket was transported to the Wenchang center in late December and then underwent prelaunch checks with the cargo ship.

On Friday afternoon, the Tianzhou 6 cargo craft undocked from Tiangong and will fall back to Earth very soon, the space agency said. Most of the spaceship will burn up during reentry, and a small amount of debris is expected to fall into secure areas in the South Pacific Ocean.

Tianzhou 7 will become the 12th spaceship to visit the Chinese space station and the first to do so this year.

Orbiting Earth about 400 kilometers above the ground, Tiangong has three permanent parts — a core module and two science capsules — and is regularly connected to several visiting crew and cargo spaceships.