BEIJING: Three Chinese astronauts whose return to Earth was delayed by space debris hitting their vessel last week landed in China on Friday afternoon, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) revealed details about the debris damage for the first time on Friday, saying “tiny cracks” were found in a small window of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft’s return capsule.

“The capsule does not meet the safety requirements for a crewed return, Shenzhou-20 will remain in orbit and conduct relevant experiments,” the agency said in a statement.

The astronauts were due to return to Earth nine days ago after completing a six-month mission on China’s permanently inhabited Tiangong space station, a programme known as Shenzhou, or “Divine Vessel”, when the crack was discovered.

The crew left Tiangong on another spacecraft, the Shenzhou-21, according to CMSA, touching down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The mission began in April and went smoothly until the debris incident forced the Shenzhou-20’s return, originally scheduled for November 5, to be postponed, CMSA said.

The delay, while only nine days, was highly unusual for a programme that had run like clockwork and in the past year reached new milestones, with the deployment of astronauts born in the 1990s, a world-record spacewalk, and plans to send the first foreign astronaut, from Pakistan, to Tiangong next year.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2025