Chinese Astronauts Stranded in Space, at Least for Now

And it’s not even Boeing’s fault! 

Bad joke, I know. I kid, I kid. 

3 Chinese astronauts stranded in space station after debris strikes return capsule https://t.co/Z246fzZTKH pic.twitter.com/CS1anBno7D

— New York Post (@nypost) November 6, 2025

Three Chinese astronauts, who were slated to return home after six months on the Chinese space station, are currently stranded after it was discovered that some space debris struck their capsule at some point during their stay. 

A Chinese space crew is stranded at the country’s Tiangong space station after tiny pieces of space debris were believed to have struck their return capsule, China’s spaceflight agency said Wednesday.

The three-member Shenzhou-20 team had been scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday, but their mission has been temporarily extended as engineers conduct impact analysis and risk assessments on the damaged spacecraft, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a statement.

It’s hardly an Apollo 13 moment, of course. But what it does mean is that the astronauts may be stuck up in space for a while, and may not have a ride home any time soon, depending on what the damage assessment shows. 

Their replacement crew had already arrived when the problem was discovered, so the astronauts will have a ride home should they need it, but that would leave the new crew without a capsule they could use attached to the station. 

At some point before the trio officially handed over the station to the next crew, the collision occurred.

It left a noticeable mark on the space vehicle’s hull, leading the team to fear their craft may have also sustained internal damage that could endanger their flight home.

Their replacements had already arrived at the space lab after taking off in their own rocket on October 31.

The two crews will now have to comb through the spacecraft to check for any critical problems before attempting to use the vessel again. The next return data has not yet been released.

It’s the second time this year that astronauts has been stranded in space due to a problem with their space capsule, taking place just seven months after NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were rescued from the International Space Station (ISS).

Orbital debris is a significant problem for spacecraft and satellites, and has caused more than a little damage in the recent past. Everything from space dust to paint chips to dropped tools can float around at tremendous speeds, and if the paths intersect the amount of damage can be enormous. 

The ISS has also been on the receiving end of several collisions with debris, including some incidents that caused significant damage to the US and Russian-led lab.

In 2021, a piece of space junk left a hole in one of the station’s robotic arms.

Just a year later, an unknown object hit a docked Russian Soyuz craft, putting a nearly inch-wide hole in its radiator and causing a coolant leak.

As for the crew of Shenzhou 20, it is not currently known what the backup plan will be if the damage to their craft cannot be repaired.

The Shenzhou 21 mission was also scheduled to last for six months on board the station, which is exclusive to Chinese astronauts.

While almost none of the debris is massive, it is moving at a tremendous speed and thus can impart a much larger impact force than you would think. Just as a bullet thrown at you by a child would do no damage to you, but could blow a hole in you when ejected by a gun at high speed, a small nut or piece of space junk moving at 17 thousand miles an hour will give you a pretty bad day. 

Modern satellites are designed to gracefully leave orbit when their lifespan is exceeded, or move to parking orbits out of the way. For instance, Starlink satellites deorbit at a rate of one to two a day, reducing the chance that they might get in the way. While Starlinks are designed to completely burn up in the atmosphere, larger satellites are directed to the South Pacific away from places where human beings or shipping are located. 

Presumably, the Chinese have backup plans for situations like this. While they have been developing a partially reusable capsule for the moon missions, the current capsules they use are basically updated Soyuz capsules. I have no idea how many they have. These craft, named Shenzhou, carry 3 astronauts, while the new one under development will carry 6. 

It’s not clear to me whether SpaceX could offer its services to rescue the astronauts. It all depends upon whether the docking mechanisms are compatible. Since China has made its space station for its own use exclusively, it may not be using compatible hardware. The ISS uses a universal docking system designed to accommodate multiple spacecraft, but the Chinese may not have adopted it. 

We’ll see. 

As of now, there is no crisis that we know of. But I sure bet the astronauts wouldn’t mind a good meal and a full shower again. 

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