On April 20, 2017 (March 24, 2017 in the lunar calendar), the "Express Brother" Tianzhou-1 was successfully launched. "Express Brother" Tianzhou-1 was successfully launched. At 19:41 on April 20, 2017, my country's first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 was launched at the Wenchang Space Launch Center and successfully entered the predetermined orbit. Tianzhou-1 carried out cargo transportation. Supply, propellant on-orbit replenishment, autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking and other tasks. my country's first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, was successfully launched at the Wenchang Space Launch Site. This is the final work of the second step of my country's "three-step" development strategy for manned space engineering, marking that my country is about to start the era of space stations. At night, the sea breeze blows lightly at the coastal launch site. The milky white Long March 7 Remote-2 rocket was particularly dazzling under the spotlight. This is the 247th flight of the Long March series of launch vehicles and the second flight of the Long March 7 rocket. Just nearly 10 months ago, the Long March 7 made its first successful flight here. This time, the space station cargo transportation system it and the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft form is the first flight of the space station system. At 19:41, as the "ignition" command was issued, a roar like the earth and mountains shook sounded at the launch site, and the Long March 7 rocket trailing white tail flames soared into the sky. At this time, Tiangong-2, which has been cruising in space for more than seven months and orbiting the earth 3396 times, is looking forward to this sweet "date". On September 15, 2016, the first true space laboratory Tiangong-2 was successfully launched. At present, Tiangong-2, with a design life of 2 years, is operating in good condition. About 596 seconds later, the spacecraft accurately entered orbit. Zhang Xueyu, commander of the Tianzhou-1 launch mission launch site area command, announced that the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft was successfully launched. According to the plan, Tianzhou-1 will conduct three automatic rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-2 in an orbit 393 kilometers above the ground. This is the first time in the history of my country's manned spaceflight. Xu Xiaoping, deputy chief designer of the cargo spacecraft system, said that the characteristics of each rendezvous and docking mission are different. Implementing on-orbit propellant replenishment is another important task of Tianzhou-1's flight."Mastering these technologies will fill the technological gap in my country's aerospace field and achieve technological leapfrogging in my country's aerospace field." The "Express Brother" Tianzhou-1 was launched into orbit yesterday and will automatically rendezvous and dock with Tiangong-2 three times. Pioneering a number of "unique skills" core tasks: Space refueling China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation introduced that this "delivery boy" pioneered a number of "unique skills", the most important one being with the Tiangong-2 space laboratory that is operating in space. Conduct rendezvous and docking to verify "space refueling"-propellant on-orbit replenishment technology. The Tianzhou series cargo spacecraft is a newly developed spacecraft in my country. Its main task is to transport supplies for the construction and operation of the space station. On September 15 last year, the Tiangong-2 Space Laboratory was successfully launched, marking the second step of China's "three-step" strategy for manned space engineering, namely the space laboratory stage. The launch of the cargo spacecraft is the final battle of this stage and is of great significance to the smooth implementation of follow-up tasks of the space station project. Carry out on-orbit propellant replenishment technology verification and compare the "manned" characteristics of the Shenzhou series spacecraft. The main function of the Tianzhou series cargo spacecraft is to "carry cargo." The size is equivalent to the Tiangong-2 Space Laboratory, but the belly is large and can transport about 6 tons of cargo. Relevant personnel from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said that the completion of in-orbit propellant supply in space after rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-2, commonly known as "space refueling," was the biggest highlight of Tianzhou-1's trip. Carrying out technical verification of propellant on-orbit replenishment can lay the foundation for the subsequent construction of large-scale space stations. Before Tianzhou-1, the only countries that mastered on-orbit propellant replenishment technology were Russia and the United States. Among them, only Russia has realized on-orbit refueling applications. Our country chose independent research and development, and the development team spent nearly ten years tackling key problems before achieving a breakthrough. The first time to test autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking Tianzhou-1 Another major initiative was to carry out autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking tests. Before Tianzhou-1, the rendezvous and docking technology mastered by my country took about two days. Tianzhou-1 will carry out independent rapid rendezvous and docking tests to control the rendezvous and docking time within a few hours. The realization of rapid rendezvous and docking will help improve the reliability of the aircraft in orbit, reduce resource consumption during the rendezvous and docking process, including orbit control, and at the same time protect the aircraft to a greater extent and facilitate emergency response to space station emergencies. In other words, by mastering independent rapid rendezvous and docking, the "express delivery boy" Tianzhou-1 can transport cargo faster, more comfortably and more securely. In addition, after the mission, Tianzhou-1 will implement active de-orbiting through the decision of the ground flight control staff, and will be controlled to fall into a designated area of the South Pacific through two down-orbit controls. It not only avoids becoming space debris and avoids uncontrollable factors during the deorbiting process, but also contributes to creating a clean and safe space environment. China's first cargo spacecraft,"Tianzhou-1," was successfully launched to develop new drugs for osteoporosis. Tianzhou-1 not only meets the needs of transporting cargo, but also maximizes the effectiveness of the platform. It carries dozens of load equipment on board and carries out more than ten load tests in orbit to achieve the goal of "benefiting many parties in one flight." One of them is the development of new drugs for osteoporosis under anti-weightlessness conditions, which is under the responsibility of the Chen Guoqiang team of Tsinghua University. Data shows that there are currently about 90 million patients with osteoporosis in my country, and by 2050, the number of patients with osteoporosis will surge to more than 200 million, accounting for 13.2% of the population. Osteoporosis is also a potential threat to astronauts. In a microgravity environment, astronauts have an average monthly income of 0.5?% Bone loss, especially in the weight-bearing bones (calcaneus, tibia, femur, vertebra), is more serious than in non-weight-bearing bones (radius, ulna). Using the real space microgravity environment provided by Tianzhou-1, Tsinghua University plans to study the osteogenic effect of the bone loss intervention drug 3HB in the real space microgravity environment. What is the difficulty of "refueling in space"? What is the difficulty of "refueling in space"? What is the difference between refueling on land as usual? After Tianzhou-1 and Tiangong-2 are docked, propellant will be continuously transported to Tiangong-2 through the gas pressure generated between the two spacecraft. The "space refueling" process is complex and is divided into 29 steps, each step requiring careful control. The entire replenishment process takes several days. Tianzhou-1 is equipped with a total of 36 engines with four different thrust levels: 25-N, 120-N, 150-N, and 490-N engines. Through tacit cooperation, they strive to ensure that the Tianzhou-1's on-orbit flight speed is 8 times the flight speed of a bullet. In the case of "moderate pitch and free movement" is achieved. In addition to implementing my country's first on-orbit propellant replenishment, Tianzhou-1 also plans to carry out multiple propellant replenishment tests. Famous China space station experts commented that the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft and the Tiangong-2 space laboratory successfully completed the first propellant in-orbit replenishment test, marking the complete success of the Tianzhou-1 mission. This incident has two great significance. The first one means that our country has become the third country in the world to independently master the technology of propellant on-orbit replenishment. It not only fills a gap in our country's aerospace field, but also assembles and builds our country's space station. Construction and long-term operations have cleared obstacles to energy supply. The second priority is to give more confidence to many citizens who care about my country's aerospace development, condense the patriotic feelings of the broad masses of the people, and give room for the warm national sentiment to be released. -- From current affairs commentators, columnists, and microblogs signed by the media: Zhou Chengyang Tianzhou-1 is similar to the cargo spacecraft currently providing supplies to the International Space Station. In terms of design and transportation capabilities, Tianzhou-1 is similar to Russia's Progress and Europe's Auto-Transfer spacecraft, providing food, water and propulsion fuel to the International Space Station. Although China's space program "replicates the United States and Russia," its rapidly developing technology is the envy of regional neighbors,"especially India, which has been left behind by China." It can be said that the success of Tianzhou-1 is the final battle for the task list of China's space laboratory. After more than sixty years of hard work, several generations of China astronauts have pushed China's space exploration technology to the forefront of the world. With the upcoming "space refueling" drama of Tianzhou-1, Tiangong-2 and even China's space industry will gain new impetus. -- Doctor of International Relations, Institute of Society and Culture, Macau University of Science and Technology: Zhang Shenglei