LAUNCH OF CHINA’S TIANZHOU-4 CARGO RESUPPLY SPACECRAFT, May 9, 2022, Hainan Island, China, 1:56 pm ET

China is expected to launch its fourth cargo resupply mission, Tianzhou-4, to the Tianhe space station core module on May 9, 2022 on a Long March 7 rocket from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island, China.

Andrew Jones, a reporter in Finland who specializes in the Chinese space program and tracks Chinese-language sources, reports that China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that the launch is scheduled for 17:56 UTC (1:56 pmEDT).  China is 12 hours ahead of EDT so it will take place on May 10 at 7:56 am local time at the launch site.

Long March 7 to launch Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft mission rolled out to the pad at Wenchang today, CMSA states. Launch set for ~1756 UTC Monday May 9 (1:56 pm ET, 07:56 May 10 Beijing time). [?: CMSA] https://t.co/5wirvnkSzv pic.twitter.com/qp8eNnQH9w

— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) May 7, 2022

Tianhe is unoccupied at the moment. A new crew is expected to be launched on Shenzhou-14 in June for a six-month stay. Tianzhou-3 is already docked there.

China is getting ready to launch the other two space station modules, Wentian and Mengtian, in July and October. The three modules docked together will form the China Space Station (CSS), also called Tiangong-3. China is planning to begin permanent human occupancy of the facility this fall, similar to the International Space Station, which has been permanently occupied with international crews for more than 21 years.

The first CSS crew hand-over is expected this fall when the Shenzhou-15 crew replaces Shenzhou-14.

China officially laid out the general plan in April.

On May 7, China’s official Xinhua news agency tweeted a photo of the Tianzhou-4 spacecraft and rocket on their way to the launch pad.

The combination of the Tianzhou-4 cargo spacecraft and a Long March-7 Y5 carrier rocket has been transferred to the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said Saturday https://t.co/PsGuvvGpJO pic.twitter.com/mRbMYycYs8

— China Xinhua Sci-Tech (@XHscitech) May 7, 2022