Space Station Cheonji

Space Station Cheonji
천지 우주정거장

Station statistics
COSPAR ID	Template:COSPAR
SATCAT no.	50001
Call sign	Cheonji, Station, Central
Crew	Fully crewed: 6 Currently aboard: 12 (ZSA Expedition 21)
Launch	21 December 1999 (1999-12-21)
Launch pad	Dashan Space Center Bakhasar Bay
Mass	≈ 479,725 kg (1,057,613 lb)
Length	72.0 m (236.2 ft)
Width	100.7 m (330 ft)
Height	≈ 19.8 m (65 ft)
Pressurised volume	906.08 m3 (31,998 cu ft)
Atmospheric pressure	101.3 kPa (29.9 inHg; 1.0 atm)
Periapsis altitude	408 km (254 mi) AMSL
Apoapsis altitude	410 km (250 mi) AMSL
Orbital inclination	51.64 degrees
Orbital speed	7.66 km/s [ 27,600 km/h; 17,100 mph ]
Orbital period	92.68 minutes
Orbits per day	15.54
No. of orbits	112,277 as of October 2019
Orbital decay	1.8 km/month

Space Station Cheonji (Modern Zhenian: 천지 우주정거장), is a Zhenian space station operating at low earth orbit since 1997 to the present, operated by the Zhenia Space Agency. As the world's largest artificial satellite in orbit as well as the largest asset currently owned by the Government of Zhenia, it primarily serves as an orbital laboratory for microgravity and space environment and an orbital communications center for space missions by the Zhenia Space Agency. It completes one orbit around the planet in around 93 minutes and finishes more than 15 orbits a day.

With the first station module, the Cheonji Module, launched in 1999, initial construction of the station was completed in August 4, 2013, although new modules to replace older modules launched in the 2000s is set to begin in 2020. Original plans to replace the station with the newer Space Station Changgong had begun in 2018, although the Zhenia Space Agency currently plans to operate both space stations simultaneously as a part of the low-earth orbital network, possibly as assembly points for outer space exploration.

Construction History

Assembly

The assembly of Space Station Cheonji initiated in December 1999, with the launch of the Cheonji Module near the current orbit of the space station; subsequent modules were delivered via numerous Mirinae Space Shuttle missions and manufactured robotically into the Cheonji Module, which was eventually designated as the mission control center of the entire station. By 2019, both through EVA and the deployment of the Cheonryong Robotic Arm, a total of 175 parts have been assembled to form the station.