--- description: The Tiangong orbiting laboratory will fill a void the International Space Station will leave—both scientifically and diplomatically. title: China's New Space Station Has a Big Role to Play image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c7ce0fa7f59db64/698a35494ee262201a31a90d/Tiangong.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # China's New Space Station Has a Big Role to Play—Scientifically and Diplomatically  by [Jeffrey Kluger](/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Sep 12, 2022 2:49 PM CUT  The rocket carrying Chinas second module for its Tiangong space station lifts off from Wenchang spaceport in southern China on July 24, 2022. The rocket carrying Chinas second module for its Tiangong space station lifts off from Wenchang spaceport in southern China on July 24, 2022.CNS/AFP via Getty Images  by [Jeffrey Kluger](/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large Sep 12, 2022 2:49 PM CUT When the International Space Station (ISS) goes out of service in 2030, low-Earth orbit won’t be empty of cosmic labs. Already flying—if only partially constructed—is China’s two-module (soon to be three) Tiangong space station. Compared to the 16-module ISS, China’s orbiting platforms is a modest machine, but as [_Popular Science_ reports](https://www.popsci.com/science/tiangong-chinese-space-station/ "undefined") in a story that nicely frames China’s overall ambitions in space, Tiangong has a big role to play. The station’s third module, known as Mengtian (“dreaming of the heavens”) measures 59 ft. (18 m) long and 14 ft. (4 m) wide and weighs-in at 20 metric tons. Set to launch before the end of 2022, it will join the Tianhe core module and the Wentian experiment modules, already in orbit. --- ### More from TIME --- Like the ISS, the T-shaped station will be equipped with a robotic arm. That could give Tiangong the capability to help service and support [Xuntian](https://www.space.com/china-hubble-class-telescope-for-space-station "undefined"), China’s first space telescope, scheduled to launch within the next two or three years. Xuntian will fly in low-Earth orbit, giving it more in common with the Hubble Space Telescope than the James Webb Space Telescope, except it will have a field of view up to 300 times greater than Hubble’s. Meantime, while the U.S. and China don’t cooperate in space the way the U.S. does with Russia and 13 other space station partners, China is opening up the Wentian module to potential experiments other countries around the world might want to fly. All told, Wentian is expected to be capable of running over 1,000 experiments over the course of Tiangong’s yet-to-be-determined lifespan. That could make Tiangong as much a tool of diplomacy as of science. The station is “very attractive to a lot of international partners that don’t have such comprehensive space programs,” Alanna Krowlikowski, a political scientist at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, told _Popular Science_. As the U.S. cedes the space station market to other players, China is ready to rush in. _This story originally appeared in TIME Space, our weekly newsletter covering all things space._ [_You can sign up here._](https://time.com/newsletters/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6212281/china-tiangong-space-station-role/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6212281/china-tiangong-space-station-role/"},"headline":"China's New Space Station Has a Big Role to Play—Scientifically and Diplomatically","datePublished":"2022-09-12T14:49:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:43:59.448Z","description":"The Tiangong orbiting laboratory will fill a void the International Space Station will leave—both scientifically and diplomatically","url":"https://time.com/6212281/china-tiangong-space-station-role/","keywords":["Space","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c7ce0fa7f59db64/698a35494ee262201a31a90d/Tiangong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeffrey Kluger","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0c7ce0fa7f59db64/698a35494ee262201a31a90d/Tiangong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CHINA-SPACE","caption":"CHINA-SPACE","creditText":"CNS/AFP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6212281/china-tiangong-space-station-role/","name":"China's New Space Station Has a Big Role to Play—Scientifically and Diplomatically"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Russia to Drop Out of International Space Station After 2024","description":"Yuri Borisov, Head of Roscosmos, and Vladimir Putin announce Russia's intent to withdraw from the International Space Station, and construct a new independent orbiter.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VSY3AZDx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-07-26T18:48:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VSY3AZDx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6212281/china-tiangong-space-station-role/","duration":"PT44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6212281/china-tiangong-space-station-role/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```