Beijing, Updated At: 05:09 PM May 01, 2026 IST
China plans to expand its low-Earth-orbit Tiangong space station, potentially more than doubling its size, as the rival International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled to be phased out by 2031.
Currently both Tiangong and the ISS operate in orbit. The ISS — a multinational laboratory involving NASA, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada — will be retired in early 2031. NASA intends to use a dedicated de-orbit vehicle being developed by SpaceX to guide the ISS into a controlled re-entry over the South Pacific.
China built Tiangong after being reportedly excluded from the ISS over concerns that its space programme is linked to the People’s Liberation Army. Tiangong became operational in 2022 and is currently the only active national space station in orbit, though it is smaller than the football-field-sized ISS. Since the ISS became operational in 1998, several international astronauts have conducted more than 3,000 experiments aboard it.
According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, citing state broadcaster CCTV, China has confirmed plans to enlarge Tiangong to meet rising scientific demand and broaden international cooperation. The T-shaped station will first receive a fourth module — a multifunctional extension to the Tianhe core — transforming the configuration into a cross shape.
The new module will include multiple docking ports to accommodate a pair of future laboratory units, enabling a six-module complex with an approximate total mass of 180 tonnes. No timeline for this expansion has been released.
Since completion in 2022, Tiangong has supported over 260 scientific experiments and 26 spacewalks. More than two dozen Chinese astronauts have lived and worked aboard the station. Astronauts from Pakistan, Hong Kong and Macau are expected to join Chinese missions this year.
