Cargo mission

陈小将

In another development, Lin said at the news conference that the launch of Tianzhou 8, China's next cargo mission to the Tiangong space station, has been rescheduled to mid-November.

The official said the rearrangement was made by mission headquarters after considering the impact of Super Typhoon Yagi. The storm wreaked havoc in September in Hainan province, which is home to the Wenchang Space Launch Center.

The original launch was scheduled to take place before the Shenzhou XIX mission, Lin's office previously said.

The pre-launch preparations for Tianzhou 8 have been proceeding according to the new plan, the official said, noting that there currently are sufficient daily living and work supplies onboard the space station, because a scenario such as the postponement had been considered when making plans.

According to Lin, although workers at the Wenchang spaceport had tried their best to prepare for the typhoon, the storm had caused some damage to the center's launch and living facilities.

After the typhoon, they immediately began to restore damaged equipment and made all-out recovery efforts, he said.