Spacewalks become 'routine' after 12th mission

Shenzhou XV mission members conducted their fourth spacewalk on Saturday, surpassing previous crews, according to China Manned Space Agency.

In a news release on Sunday afternoon, the agency said that mission commander Major General Fei Junlong and Senior Colonel Zhang Lu completed the spacewalk and then returned to the Wentian science module. The third crew member, Senior Colonel Deng Qingming, stayed inside Tiangong providing support.

This was the 12th spacewalk conducted by Chinese astronauts.

The agency did not specify when the spacewalk took place or for how long, nor did it discuss the specific tasks performed by the crew.

During their spacewalks, the Shenzhou XV team have mounted equipment required for extravehicular scientific experiments and technological demonstrations.

Agency officials said that spacewalks have become a routine task and that they will be conducted on a regular basis in accordance with mission needs.

Fei's team arrived at the station on Nov 30. They are expected to remain until May, when the Shenzhou XVI crew is scheduled to take over.

As of Sunday, the three astronauts had been aboard the space station for 137 days.

In another development, the Long March 7 carrier rocket tasked with lifting the Tianzhou 6 cargo spaceship arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Thursday.

The rocket and the cargo ship will undergo final checks, the agency said.

Tianzhou 6 is scheduled to dock with Tiangong in May.