Shenzhou-20 crew to return to Earth on 5 November after handover with Shenzhou-21 team
China's Shenzhou-20 astronauts have handed over the space station to the Shenzhou-21 crew and are scheduled to return to Earth on 5 November 2026.
China's Shenzhou-20 crew — Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie — has completed its in-orbit handover with the Shenzhou-21 crew and is scheduled to return to Earth on 5 November 2026, landing at the Dongfeng site in Inner Mongolia, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
Handover complete, return scheduled
China's Shenzhou-20 crew has completed its in-orbit handover with the Shenzhou-21 crew and is scheduled to return to Earth on 5 November 2026, the China Manned Space Agency said. The two crews held a handover ceremony and transferred the keys of the country's space station on Tuesday, formally passing control of the station to the incoming crew.
The Shenzhou-20 trio — Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie — have completed all their planned tasks, according to the agency. They are set to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, with the landing site and all supporting systems undergoing preparations to welcome them back.
A long mission in orbit
The Shenzhou-20 team is slated to return after spending 188 days in orbit, according to reports of the agency's announcement. The mission is part of China's regular crew rotation aboard its space station, with incoming and outgoing crews spending a handover period together before the departing team heads home.
Commander Chen Dong set records during the mission, becoming the first Chinese astronaut to accumulate more than 400 days in space in total, and now holds the highest number of spacewalks among Chinese taikonauts, with six extravehicular activities completed. The incoming Shenzhou-21 mission is China's sixth crewed mission to the Tiangong station, and it carried four mice for experiments — the first time such animals have been used for experiments on the station.
What happens next
The Shenzhou-21 crew, which arrived to relieve the Shenzhou-20 team, now takes over day-to-day operations aboard the station. The returning crew's landing at Dongfeng will mark the end of a mission that began with their launch to the station earlier in the year.
The agency has said preparations at the landing site are under way. Further details about the return, including the exact landing time, were not stated in the agency's announcement as reported.
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Frequently asked questions
Who are the Shenzhou-20 crew members returning to Earth?
The three astronauts are Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
Where will the Shenzhou-20 crew land?
The crew is set to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
What happened during the in-orbit handover?
The two crews held a handover ceremony and transferred the keys of the space station, formally passing control to the Shenzhou-21 crew.