It is the longest stay ever made by China in space: the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 mission returned to Earth on Saturday April 16, after six months spent in the Chinese space station.

This is another successful step for Beijing in its ambitious space program to catch up with the United States, Europe and Russia.

After triggering its red and white parachute, the return capsule where the crew had taken place landed shortly before 10:00 a.m. (2:00 a.m. GMT) in the Inner Mongolia desert in northern China.

"The return capsule from Shenzhou-13 has landed successfully," state broadcaster CCTV said.

Live CCTV footage showed the capsule landing in a cloud of dust.

Ground crews, who had kept away from the landing site, rushed in helicopters to reach the capsule.

The astronauts, very applauded, declared in turn that they felt "good".

With 183 days in space, the crew smashes the previous national record for a stay in space, which was 92 days and was set in 2021 during the previous manned mission, Shenzhou-12.

Tiangong station soon to be completed

The Shenzhou-13 mission crew consisted of three army pilots: Commander Zhai Zhigang, 55, his colleague Wang Yaping, 42, and the youngest Ye Guangfu, 41, who was the first space flight.

"Six-month stays are common, whether for (the former Russian-Soviet station) Mir or for the International Space Station (ISS)," notes Jonathan McDowell, astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in the United States. United States.

"The goal (with Shenzhou-13) was not in itself to establish a record but to develop the skills necessary for a permanent occupation of the station", the final objective of China, he explains.

>> Review: What are China's ambitions in space?

Named in Chinese Tiangong ("Heavenly Palace") but also known by its English acronym CSS (for "Chinese Space Station" in French), it should be completed by the end of 2022. Similar in size to Mir, its lifespan should be fifteen years old.

An analysis of the state of health of the astronauts of Shenzhou-13 will allow China to learn more about the impact of a prolonged absence of gravity on organisms.

In six months, the crew also continued the construction of the station, led two courses on the Internet for Chinese schoolchildren, carried out experiments and refined their mastery of long-term stays.

Welcome home！🇨🇳 #Shenzhou13 #AmazingChina pic.twitter.com/voSn3BusLG

— 王鲁彤 Wang Lutong (@WangLutongMFA) April 16, 2022

“For example, they have improved their maintenance skills, through spacewalks and manipulations of the robotic arm” of the station, explains Chen Lan, analyst of the GoTaikonauts.com site, specializing in the Chinese space program.

Shenzhou-13 was "not a significant breakthrough," but "the completion of CSS later this year will be a very significant event," he said.

Next stages of construction: the sending of a cargo ship in May then another manned mission, Shenzhou-14, which should be launched in June.

The last two space station modules are to be sent from July.

They will take the direction of space from the launch center of Wenchang, located on the tropical island of Hainan (south) and whose Chinese President, Xi Jinping, declared, Thursday, to want to make it a site “of world class ".

From Shenzhou-14, the CSS should be permanently occupied.

Another step forward for the Chinese space program

Once poor, China has been investing billions of euros in its space program for several decades.

The Asian giant sent its first astronaut into space in 2003. Since then, it has achieved some remarkable feats, especially in recent years.

In early 2019, China landed a device on the far side of the Moon, a world first.

In 2020, it brought back samples from the Moon and finalized Beidou, its satellite navigation system competing with American GPS.

In 2021, she landed a small robot on Mars and plans to send men to the Moon by 2030.

China's ambition to build its own station has been fueled by the American refusal to accept Chinese in the ISS, a program piloted by NASA.

This did not prevent the crew of Shenzhou-13 from discussing, last week, with 150 young people, parents and American teachers gathered at the initiative of the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

A meeting during which was broadcast a video message from the boss of the American company SpaceX, Elon Musk, who called on "humanity to work together" for the conquest of space.

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_FR