This is China's new spaceship for carrying humans to earth orbit, the Moon, and destinations further out in the solar system.

Meant as a next generation improvement from the previous Shenzhou craft, little is known about it; not even its name.

It was built by the China Academy of Space Technology and will eventually be able to carry 4 to 6 taikonauts (Chinese astronauts).

The crew module was designed to be reusable.

For its first test mission, the craft's flight software and systems -- including life support, parachute, airbag, and recovery -- will be tested to make sure they can safely launch, support, and land taikonauts.

For this launch, the capsule will also serve as a simiulated Chinese space station module.

The rocket tasked with launching the new capsule is also designated as the launch vehicle for China's new space station.

For this mission, the capsule will be filled with extra propellant to more accurately simulate the mass of a station module.

This extra propellant will allow China to test the capsule, too, at high orbital altitudes of 8,000 km.

Chang Zheng 5 (and 5B)

This is China's heavy lift rocket. Developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the Chang Zheng 5 can take:

• 25,000 kg to Low Earth Orbit
• 14,000 kg to Geostationary Transfer Orbit
• 8,200 kg to the Moon.

The rocket's engineers undertook 20 years of study before the program was approved by the Chinese government in 2007.

It flew for the first time in 2016, but its first two missions were less than perfect. The first flight dropped the payload off in a wrong - but "workable" - orbit. The second launch failed.

After this, the rocket's booster engines were redesigned. The third flight was a success, paving the way for a host of critical missions.

In 2020, the Chang Zheng 5 launched China's Chang'e 5 lunar sample return mission, a new crewed spacecraft, and the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars.

The rocket is also tasked with launching China's multi-module space station, for which it uses the Chang Zheng 5B variant that replaces the second stage with the payload (the station module) being launched instead.

Wenchang is a former suborbital test site located in Wenchang, Hainan, China.

It is China's southernmost launch site. Located on an island, rocket stages are delivered via ship.

Construction of the orbital launch pads was approved on September 27th, 2007, and the launch site was completed in October 2014 with the first orbital launch taking place on June 25th, 2016.

The site has two active launch pads, with a third planned. LC-1 is used to launch the Chang Zheng 5 rocket while LC-2 is used for the Chang Zheng 7 and 8 rocket families.

Operations at Wenchang are managed by the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Image: CMSA