SpaceX and Musk called on to rescue China's Shenzhou-20 crew
- Reference: 1762777940
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/11/10/chinas_shenzhou_problem_shows_a/
- Source link:
The three-person crew including Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, arrived in April and were supposed to return in November after a handover with the Shenzhou-21 crew. That return has been postponed while engineers assess potential damage from what [1]reports describe as "a tiny piece of space debris."
SpaceX fans quickly began [2]calling for a rescue mission. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump [3]instructed Musk to "go get" the crew of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, whom Trump claimed were "virtually abandoned" by the Biden administration. Rather than correct the misunderstanding, Musk pledged SpaceX would bring back the "stranded" astronauts.
[4]
A Chinese rescue mission is improbable as the Shenzhou-20 crew faces no immediate danger and China could simply [5]launch Shenzhou-22 earlier as a replacement, if needed.
[6]
[7]
The situation is not without precedent. In 2022, a Soyuz spacecraft attached to the International Space Station (ISS) was [8]struck by a micrometeor, and an uncrewed [9]replacement vehicle was launched to ferry the 'nauts back to Earth. At the time, NASA explored the possibility of bringing the Soyuz crew back on a SpaceX spacecraft, but the option was deemed unnecessary.
Is a rescue mission for the Shenzhou-20 team using a Crew Dragon even feasible? The next Crew Dragon launch is currently scheduled for around March or April 2026 - the NASA Crew-12 mission to the ISS. The following one, set for June 2026, is to service the Vast-1 space station. One of those missions would need to be rescheduled to free up a spacecraft, as SpaceX does not have a fleet on standby in case of an emergency.
[10]
Then there is docking. Despite claims China copied the docking system used by SpaceX and the ISS - published [11]international standards are readily available - China's orbital implementation likely won't mate with Crew Dragon hardware.
So a spacewalk then? SpaceX demonstrated EVA capability in 2024 when [12]Jared Isaacman exited through Crew Dragon's nose. However the Chinese crew's launch suits aren't spacewalk-rated, and while Tiangong has Feitian EVA suits, they're incompatible with SpaceX systems — and might not even fit through Crew Dragon's hatch.
[13]25 years of meatbags permanently in space on the ISS
[14]Trump turnabout sees him re-nominate amateur astronaut Jared Isaacman to run NASA
[15]SpaceX shows off progress on its lunar Starship
[16]SpaceX is behind schedule, so NASA will open Artemis III contract to competition
Then there is the whole political heat such a mission would generate. It is difficult to imagine a US rocket company and China cooperating in this way.
If Shenzhou-20 can't fly, it is more likely Shenzhou-22 will be launched as a replacement. The Tiangong space station was not designed to host a crew of more than three for extended stays.
The incident, which comes less than a year after SpaceX's "rescue" of the Boeing crew, underscores two increasingly critical issues: spaceflight systems need to be standardized to enable cross-nation rescues, and space debris is becoming impossible to ignore.
[17]
The irony wouldn't be lost on Reg readers if the debris that - possibly - struck Shenzhou-20 originated from a [18]Chinese anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) test years ago. ®
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://hongkongfp.com/2025/11/05/suspected-debris-strike-delays-chinese-spaceship-shenzhou-20s-return/
[2] https://x.com/irenezion/status/1986485467148152940
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/29/trump_musk_starliner/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aRIaJu8BfUWXkmjapjXhvgAAAUY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://thedailycpec.com/china-prepares-backup-return-for-tiangong-crew/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aRIaJu8BfUWXkmjapjXhvgAAAUY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aRIaJu8BfUWXkmjapjXhvgAAAUY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/15/iss_soyuz_leak_cancels_spacewalk/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/11/stranded_iss_astronauts_are_getting/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aRIaJu8BfUWXkmjapjXhvgAAAUY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.internationaldockingstandard.com/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/12/polaris_dawn_eva/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/07/25_years_of_crews_aboard/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/05/jared_isaacman_nasa_administrator_again/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/31/spacex_shows_off_lunar_starship/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/21/spacex_is_behind_schedule_so/
[17] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aRIaJu8BfUWXkmjapjXhvgAAAUY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/07/space_debris_regulation/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: A bit opposite from "The Martian"
Certainly does seem that Musk, all the techbro, and the US political leadership are all living in Supermarionation*, and somebody's definitely pulling Trump's strings.
* For the kiddies, this has nothing to do with Super Mario
Re: A bit opposite from "The Martian"
I must have seen the opposite episodes, Bob, because it seemed to me we saw lots of Thunderbirds 1 - 3 and very little of Thunderbirds 4 and 5.
Always felt sorry for the chap stuck up on his own on Thunderbird 5. Although I suppose he did have his strings for company.
Re: A bit opposite from "The Martian"
Although I suppose he did have his strings for company
With all that leisure time on his tod, the strings would have got all tangled up when....erm, maybe no I won't finish that sentence, this being a polite, family forum.
Re: A bit opposite from "The Martian"
I'm not judging, just glad it was you who went there
Re: A bit opposite from "The Martian"
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0e0v1z2u91yanLSnJmf99fcWzLUCeIGh
Also Stingray, Joe 90 and Terrahawks all there, Captain Scarlet on his way...
Options
Space is hard. NASA says so, it is continuously re-proved, and humans remain fragile.
While China has a good backup/contingency plan in place and seems to be using it effectively--it is always a good thought exercise to explore what would it take to rescue with non-Chinese (US/commercial in this case) assets.
Wake me up when China calls in need of assistance
I don't expect that'll be anytime soon.
Re: Wake me up when China calls in need of assistance
SpaceX is allied with Eastasia.
SpaceX has always been allied with Eastasia.
War is Peace etc. etc.
SpaceX and Musk called on to rescue China's Shenzhou-20 crew
Called on - by some rando on X, who almost certainly wasn't being serious - a low bar indeed to justify a headline on El Reg. I suppose it's an excuse to discuss the feasibility of such an endeavour, regardless the obvious 0% chance of it happening.
Despite claims China copied the docking system used by SpaceX and the ISS - published international standards are readily available - China's orbital implementation likely won't mate with Crew Dragon hardware.
Why is it 'copying' if they implement published international standards?
Isn't it just the sensible thing to do?
Indeed. Accusations of "copying" seems to merely be anti-China propaganda - Damned if they do, damned if they don't
The actual issue, if a rescue were needed, appears to be in which standard, or version of standard, each has adopted.
Try it on earth.
Surely it wouldn't be hard for the Chinese to ship one of their docking adaptors (without space station attached!) over to SpaceX, so that SpaceX could hack up a variant of what they use that will properly mate with the Chinese one?
Re: Try it on earth.
You can't do that in a month, which is the more or less necessary timeframe.
Also, even if the Chinese manufactured to a published spec that SpaceX used, they have never jointly tested, which is a necessary first step for manned spaceflight.
Re: Try it on earth.
ISTR there were a few things hastily put together to get Apollo 13 back which had not been previously tested.
"the crew of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, whom Trump claimed were "virtually abandoned" by the Biden administration. Rather than correct the misunderstanding, "
My aren't we being differential. BBC got you boys thinking twice?
Obviously...
Well, Musk has all those rockets sitting around. Why not make a little extra pocket money by doing an Uber here and there? Could be SpaceX's new division. "Gone to the corner space station and found yourself in a bit of the old tipsy turmoil? Just call us and avoid problems getting home."
True that it's unlikely for political and probably other technical reasons but:
Paragraph 6: "One of those missions would need to be rescheduled to free up a spacecraft, as SpaceX does not have a fleet on standby in case of an emergency.".
SpaceX has five operational Crew Dragon capsules (206, 207, 210, 212, and 213).
206 is out since it's in space right now, scheduled to return in April 2026, and SpaceX has never turned around a capsule in 2 months before.
For the others, last missions were completed April 2025 (207), August 2025 (210), March 2025 (211), and July 2025 (212). In April 2026, the time since last landing for these would be 12 months, 8 months, 13 months, and 9 months, respectively.
206 has previously had turn around times of 5 months and 6 months. 207 has turned around in 4 months and 8 months. 210 has turned around in 5 months twice. 212 has turned around in 7 months, 8 months, and 7 months. (There are other, longer gaps between missions for these capsules but the relevant question here is how fast has SpaceX been able to do it when mission demand required it, so I've spared the comment reader the exhaustive list.)
Given these times since last landing for the four capsules currently on the ground and these demonstrated past turn around times, I don't see a capsule availability obstacle to launching a rescue mission between now and April 2026 and keeping the April and June 2026 missions on schedule.
Could the author elaborate on how it was determined that either the April or June 2026 missions would have to be rescheduled to free up a capsule for a hypothetical rescue mission?
IF China asks for help to rescue its astronauts, then help should be provided in whatever way possible, regardless of differences in political ideology. Providing help when asked is a good thing.
Unfortunately, the current inhabitant of the White House has shown repeatedly he doesn't know or care about the value of another human life.
I can't imagine Trump saying FU if the Chinese asked. It would be huge publicity for the US if they managed it, many dB better than SpaceX pulling Boeing or of the ordure.
"SpaceX fans quickly began calling for a rescue mission. "
SpaceX fans? Who don't understand that the proposal is ridiculous. Musk fans, very likely.
A bit opposite from "The Martian"
As I recall in "The Martian" the U.S. kept messing up on the supply rocket (etc.) and China (in the story line) bailed us out. [that part seemed 'forced to fit' In My Bombastic Opinion]
This time around being a bit more realistic - I say "glad to help!" "Falcons are GO!" This would be even more interesting in "Supermarionation" [I loved that show when I was a kid, watched them all when they were new. Thunderbird 3 hardly ever got to fly on a mission, though.]
I'm curious what the turnaround on a man-rated Dragon + Falcon would be from "now" to launch... guess we'll see!