POSSIBLE LAUNCH OF CHINA’S CORE SPACE STATION MODULE, Apr 28, 2021 EDT (Apr 29 UTC)??

Twitter user @Cosmic_Penguin, based in Hong Kong, tweeted on April 11 these rumored dates for the launch of the core module for China’s new space station, Tianhe. He also tweeted dates for a logistics flight of the Tianzhou cargo ship and the first crew.

He is an experienced observer of China’s space program with good sources, but the Chinese government has not officially announced these dates so they are only rumors at this point.

The rumor for the Tianhe launch is April 29 at 3:18 UTC (universal time, also referred to as GMT or Zulu). That would be April 28, 11:18 pm Eastern Daylight Time.

Regarding the initial phase of construction of the Chinese Space Station, there is now rumor of exact dates:

– Launch of Tianhe Core Module/LM-5B on April 29 @ 03:18 UTC
– Launch of Tianzhou 2 logistics S/C/LM-7 on May 12
– Launch of 1st crew mission Shenzhou 12/LM-2F on June 12

— Cosmic Penguin (@Cosmic_Penguin) April 11, 2021