China’s first space station module, consisting of two cylinder-shaped sections measuring 10.4 m x 3.35 m, with an orbital mass of 8 506 kg. Mainly intended as a target vehicle for perfecting orbital rendezvous docking, the module contains a habitable Experimental Compartment (14.4 cubic m) and an inhabitable Service Compartment from which extend a pair of solar wings. Three Shenzhou transport vehicles have docked with Tiangong 1, including Shenzhou 9, which carried Liu Yang into space. Tiangong 1 operated for its expected two years, serving as a platform for a range of Earth observation and scientific research missions using its onboard mission payloads. Operations terminated on 21 March 2016, when the Chinese Space Agency lost communication with the module, as well as orbital control. The station fell to Earth on 2 April 2018, splahing down in the Pacific Ocean northwest of Tahiti. There have been no reports of debris causing death or injury.

The trail of the Chinese space station Tiangong 1 as it passed over Maun, Botswana, on the morning of 15 January 2018. The trail appears dimmer at night because the station is emerging from the Earth's shadow. When this image was taken, the space lab had been declared out of control by Chinese authorities.

Credit: Stephen James O'Meara