China's Shenzhou-21 return capsule touches down on Earth

The return capsule of the Shenzhou-21 spaceship, carrying the Shenzhou-20 astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, touches down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Nov. 14, 2025. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)

JIUQUAN, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The return capsule of the Shenzhou-21 spaceship, carrying the Shenzhou-20 astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday.

At 11:14 a.m.(Beijing Time), the Shenzhou-21 crewed spaceship undocked from the space station combination. At 2:49 p.m., the Beijing Aerospace Control Center issued a return command through the ground station, and the orbital capsule of the Shenzhou-21 spaceship separated from the return capsule.

The brake engine then ignited, and the Shenzhou-21 return capsule separated from the propulsion capsule. The return capsule touched down at 4:40 p.m. at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said.

The astronauts are all in good health. They had spent 204 days in orbit, setting a new record for the longest in-orbit stay among Chinese astronaut crews, the CMSA said.

The return capsule of the Shenzhou-21 spaceship, carrying the Shenzhou-20 astronauts Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, touches down at the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Nov. 14, 2025. (Photo by Wang Jiangbo/Xinhua)