China to complete spacesuit upgrade with Tianzhou-10 mission

China's upcoming Tianzhou-10 cargo mission will complete a full upgrade of the space station's spacesuits, with a third new-generation suit set to be delivered, China Media Group announced.

The Tianzhou-10 cargo spacecraft, atop a Long March-7 Y11 rocket, underwent vertical transportation on Friday to the launch site in south China's Hainan Province.

The spacecraft will carry nearly 6.3 tonnes of supplies to China's space station. The shipment includes more than 220 items across astronaut support, space station operations, cargo spacecraft systems and space application projects, as well as about 700 kilograms of propellant.

Among the cargo is a third upgraded extravehicular suit, identical to the two delivered by Tianzhou-9. Its arrival will mark the completion of a full replacement of the station's spacesuit system.

The mission will also deliver a new space treadmill and six scientific experiment payloads weighing about 280 kilograms in total. The experiments will support research in areas such as fluid physics under microgravity and advanced space technologies. It marks the largest number of uplink payload projects carried by a Tianzhou mission since China entered the space station construction phase.

Most of the cargo has already been loaded, while temperature-sensitive items, including fresh fruit and vegetables, refrigerated consumables, and biological or cell-based experiment samples, will be installed closer to launch. Researchers have carried out full-process rehearsals for sample preparation, loading and integration to ensure smooth final operations.

After the rocket-spacecraft combination reaches the launch pad, it will enter final launch-site testing, which usually takes about three days and includes tower coordination, tank replacement procedures and airtightness checks.

Tianzhou-9 undocked from the Tiangong space station on Wednesday and re-entered the atmosphere in a controlled manner on Thursday, with surviving debris falling into designated waters in the South Pacific, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Its departure has cleared a docking port for Tianzhou-10. The Shenzhou-21 crew has conducted manual rendezvous and docking training in orbit to prepare for the cargo spacecraft's arrival.