On 24 July, China will launch the second of three modules to its space station, with the rocket taking off from Hainan Island, located southwest of Hong Kong, at around 2pm local time

Space 21 July 2022

China’s space station module Wentian and a Long March-5B Y3 carrier rocket at the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on 18 July 2022 in Wenchang, Hainan Province of China

Sun Yelin/VCG via Getty Images

China will launch the second module of its Tiangong space station on 24 July. It will be the first laboratory module to be added to the space station, after the 16-metre-long core module Tianhe launched in April 2021.

The latest module, called Wentian or “Quest for the Heavens”, will launch on a Long March-5B Y3 rocket from …