New-generation spacecraft tracking ship Yuanwang-7 started its maritime monitoring and communication mission for Tianzhou-1, China's first cargo spacecraft, on Monday morning.
Yuanwang-7 is sailing into the Pacific Ocean for its first independent voyage. During its maiden voyage in July 2016, the ship was accompanied by Yuanwang-6.
The vessel is also expected to perform emergency response and scientific tasks after reaching its destination in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday.
Yuanwang-7, part of the country's latest generation of spacecraft tracking ships, entered service on July 12, 2016.
It has previously performed scientific research and experiment-related tasks, including tracking missions for the maiden flight of the Long March-5, and the space rendezvous and docking of manned spacecraft Shenzhou-11 and the Tiangong-2 space lab.
Construction on Yuanwang-7 started in 2014. The vessel is 224.9 meters long, 27.2 meters wide and 44.2 meters tall, and has a displacement of 27,000 tons. It is capable of resisting strong typhoons, and can carry 100 days of supplies.
The Yuanwang-1 and Yuanwang-2 ships, China's first-generation space tracking vessels, entered service in 1979, making China the fourth country to master space-tracking technology after the US, Russia and France.
In 2016, the Yuanwang ships completed 14 major scientific research and experiment tasks, including the maiden flights of the Long March-7 and the Long March-5, and the space journeys of the Tiangong-2 space lab and the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft.
