China's Shenzhou 14
astronauts are aboard the country's space station, but Shenzhou 15 is already on standby in case of an emergency
Shenzhou 14 lifted off on
June 4, delivering astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe to the Tianhe space station core module
Shenzhou 15 spacecraft and a
Long March 2F rocket have been assembled and tested in case an emergency arises aboard China's Tiangong space station.
Shenzhou 14, while on
standby during the recent Shenzhou 13 mission, could have been readied for launch within nine days.
If all continues to go
well with Shenzhou 14, Shenzhou 15 will launch sometime around December to carry out its primary, intended mission
Shenzhou 15 will send three
new astronauts to the completed three-module Tiangong. There they will meet up with the Shenzhou 14 astronauts