China’s space tracking ship Yuanwang-3 back from missions

China’s space tracking ship Yuanwang-3 returned to its homeport on Monday morning after completing three maritime monitoring missions.

During the 60-day voyage, the vessel has sailed more than 16,000 nautical miles, completing missions including tracking and monitoring the launch of the Shenzhou-14 crewed spaceship, which was the vessel’s 100th mission.

After docking at the port, it will undergo maintenance to prepare for further missions.

Commissioned on May 18, 1995, the vessel is a second-generation Chinese space tracking ship. It has undertaken maritime tracking and monitoring tasks for spacecraft, including the Shenzhou spaceships, Chang’e lunar probes and BeiDou satellites.