Tianzhou 8 undocks from Tiangong space station, set to return soon

The Tianzhou 8 cargo spacecraft left the Tiangong space station on Tuesday afternoon and is set to return to Earth in coming days, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The agency said in a brief release that the robotic craft undocked from Tiangong at 3:09 pm and entered the solo-flight mode.

During the atmospheric re-entry process guided by ground controllers, most of the spaceship will burn up, and a small amount of debris is expected to fall into secure waters, the agency noted.

The spaceship, tasked with resupplying propellants to the Chinese space station and delivering living and work necessities for the Shenzhou XIX and Shenzhou XX crews, was launched in November 2024 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province.

The Tianzhou 9 cargo spacecraft is expected to be launched in the near future, according to mission planners.