China's Shenzhou-20 return mission delayed due to space debris impact

China’s Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft has delayed its return mission to Earth after the vessel was possibly hit by tiny bits of space debris, the country’s human spaceflight agency said Wednesday.

BEIJING — China’s Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft has delayed its return mission to Earth after the vessel was possibly hit by tiny bits of space debris, the country’s human spaceflight agency said Wednesday, an unusual situation that could disrupt the operation of the country’s space station Tiangong.

An impact analysis and risk assessment are underway, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a brief statement, without providing any new schedule for the return mission, which was originally set to land in northern China on Wednesday.

The delay highlights the danger to space travel posed by increasing amounts of space debris. The debris, also called space junk, consists of discarded launch vehicles or parts of a vessel that float around in space hundreds of miles above the Earth, risking collisions with countries’ active assets.

The Shenzhou program takes trios of Chinese astronauts to and from Tiangong for six-month stays where they perform a variety of tasks, including repairing damage to the station caused by debris impact.

The Shenzhou-19 crew’s return mission in April was delayed by one day due to weather conditions at the landing site. But this is the first time that a return mission has been delayed by space debris.