Tianzhou 9 departs Tiangong, prepares for Earth reentry

The Tianzhou 9 cargo spacecraft departed from the Tiangong space station on Wednesday afternoon and is set to return to Earth soon, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a brief release that the robotic craft undocked from Tiangong at 4:34 pm and entered into the solo-flight mode. It is programmed to descend into the atmosphere in coming days, it added.

During the atmospheric reentry process guided by ground controllers, most of the spaceship will burn up, and a small amount of debris is expected to fall into secure areas in the sea, the agency noted.

The Tianzhou 9 robotic cargo ship was launched in July 2025 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in the country's southernmost island province of Hainan.

As the 17th spaceship, and the eighth cargo craft, connected with Tiangong, Tianzhou 9 delivered propellants, science payloads and necessities for the astronauts.

The vessel carried hundreds of packages with a combined weight of nearly 6.5 metric tons, including several science and technology apparatus and two new spacewalk suits.

With a designed life of more than a year, a Tianzhou cargo craft has two parts, a cargo cabin and a propulsion section. Such vehicles are 10.6 meters long and 3.35 meters wide.