The crew aboard China’s sixth crewed mission to the Tiangong space station, Shenzhou 17, completed their first spacewalk to address damage detected on the station’s solar arrays. The news was reported by the China National Space Administration and confirmed by officials involved with the mission.
The EVA involved mission commander Tang Hongbo and fellow taikonaut Tang Shengjie. They spent roughly seven and a half hours outside the orbital platform, while Jiang Xinlin operated the robotic arm from a console inside Tiangong to assist with tasks at the solar deployment and repair sites.
Their work focused on inspecting, repairing, and testing the solar panels that had suffered damage from micro-meteoroid impacts, a reminder of the harsh environment in which space stations operate. The crew carefully executed a series of repair procedures and tests designed to restore energy generation and ensure the station’s systems could continue to rely on robust power supply.
Dong Nanli, deputy chief designer of China’s human spaceflight program, noted that the taikonauts completed a new type of mission activity. In this operation, they not only performed the repair but also carried out an on-orbit repair and integration effort that extended beyond the tasks previously seen in Tiangong missions. Earlier crews had primarily exited the station to install or configure equipment; this mission marks a broader range of on-site capabilities and maintenance activities completed in a single spacewalk.
The leadership in Beijing has emphasized a long-term commitment to maintaining and utilizing the Tiangong space station. Officials have indicated plans to actively operate Tiangong for a decade or longer, highlighting ongoing steps to expand crewed missions, scientific experiments, and international collaboration aboard the platform.
In related developments from the broader space community, China continues to advance its autonomous and crewed spaceflight capabilities, including robust satellite operations and in-orbit servicing concepts. The successful completion of the Shenzhou 17 spacewalk underscores the nation’s growing proficiency in sustaining long-duration missions and addressing in-space maintenance challenges with a combination of crewed EVA work and robotic assistance.