China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely because of US concerns over the Chinese military s total control of the space programme amid a sharpening competition in technology between the two geopolitical rivals. This year, the Chinese station is slated for two cargo spacecraft missions and two manned spaceflight missions.
They were able to reap four batches of lettuce, marking a successful initial operation. Building on this success, the astronauts proceeded with their second operation in August, focusing on cherry tomatoes and green onions. The Shenzhou-16 mission, which is China s fifth manned mission to its space station since 2021, is a crucial component of the country s ambitious space program.