Three Chinese astronauts safely returned to Earth on Friday after their Shenzhou-20 spacecraft was damaged by space debris. The vessel developed tiny cracks in its return capsule, delaying the crew’s homecoming by nine days. They landed at the Dongfeng site in Inner Mongolia, completing a six-month mission aboard China’s Tiangong space station.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said the cracks made Shenzhou-20 unsafe for a crewed return. The astronauts instead departed on Shenzhou-21, which had recently arrived at Tiangong to replace the outgoing crew. The delay was unusual for the Shenzhou programme, which had previously run smoothly and achieved major milestones, including world-record spacewalks and new-generation astronauts born in the 1990s.
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The incident also created a logistical challenge for the Tiangong station. With Shenzhou-20 retired and Shenzhou-21 now docked with the station, the current crew has no immediate flight-ready spacecraft. CMSA said it will launch the Shenzhou-22 at “an appropriate time” to ensure the astronauts can return safely in case of an emergency.
Experts said the damage highlights the growing danger of space debris. Old satellites, rocket stages, and past collisions create thousands of pieces of orbiting junk. “The likelihood of damage to spacecraft and stations has risen significantly,” said Igor Marinin of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. Past missions to the ISS have also faced evasive maneuvers to avoid debris.
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The incident underscores the need for international cooperation in space safety. While China and the U.S. have legal restrictions on collaboration, the two countries have increasingly shared spacecraft maneuver alerts. As orbital debris grows, calls for global coordination on space traffic management and debris mitigation are becoming more urgent.