What is China's Tiangong space station and what research happens there?

The answer

China's Tiangong ('Heavenly Palace') space station was completed in November 2022 with the docking of the Mengtian laboratory module, forming a T-shaped complex approximately 110 metric tons in mass. It consists of the Tianhe core module and two laboratory modules - Wentian and Mengtian. The station orbits at 340-450 kilometers altitude and hosts a permanent three-person crew, with rotational exchanges bringing six taikonauts aboard simultaneously. Tiangong supports over 1,000 planned experiments in microgravity physics, space life sciences, materials science, and fluid dynamics. The Xuntian space telescope, a Hubble-class optical observatory, is designed to co-orbit with Tiangong for servicing missions. China has invited international collaboration, with experiments from Pakistan, Kenya, and European institutions planned. The station represents a significant milestone in China's space program, which plans crewed lunar missions by 2030.