• In a time when space activity is becoming more competitive, China's new space station officially launches.
• On the Shenzhou 15 mission, three taikonauts travelled to China's brand-new Tiangong space station.
• Humans can now dwell in orbit in locations other than the International Space Station.

The Shenzhou 15 mission, which carries three taikonauts—the Chinese term for astronauts—launched from China's Gobi Desert on November 29, 2022. They arrived at their target, China's recently finished space station known as Tiangong, which is Mandarin for 'heavenly palace,' six hours later. 

The old crew that assisted in finishing construction was replaced by the three taikonauts. With the completion of this mission, China is now the third country in the world to run a permanent space station. China's space station reinforces its place as one of the top three space powers in the world, alongside the United States and Russia. As space law and policy experts who direct the Space Governance Program at Indiana University Ostrom Workshop, we have been watching the construction of the Chinese space station with interest.

Tiangong, in contrast to the cooperative, American-led International Space Station, is wholly constructed and operated by China. Exciting science has begun with the station's successful opening. The station, however, also emphasises the nation's self-reliance strategy and represents a significant step for China in realising its wider space aspirations in the context of shifting space power dynamics.

 The Chinese human space program's three decades of work have culminated in the Tiangong space station. Three modules that were launched separately and linked in orbit make up the 180-foot-long (55-meter) station. There are two experiment modules and one core module, with a combined volume of 3,884 cubic feet (110 cubic metres), or around one-fifth the size of the International Space Station, which can accommodate up to six taikonauts. 

The station also features three docking ports for manned spacecraft and resupply craft, as well as an external robotic arm that can support activities and experiments outside the station. Tiangong is based on a Soviet-era design, much like China's aircraft carriers and other spacecraft; it is essentially a replica of the Soviet Mir space station from the 1980s. But the Tiangong station has undergone significant modernization and enhancement.

With two six-month crewed trips and two cargo missions per year, the Chinese space station is expected to remain in orbit for 15 years. A planned investigation involving monkey reproduction has already started in the station's biological test cabinets as part of the science activities. It is entirely uncertain whether the monkeys will comply.