China's Tiangong space station damaged by debris strike

China will beef up its space debris procedures for astronauts after a partial loss of power on its Tiangong space station, according to state media, Report informs referring to Space.com.

Astronauts on the Shenzhou 17 mission conducted two spacewalks outside the Tiangong space station this winter, most recently on March 1. At the time, Chinese media said there had been a partial (but minor) loss of power supply after the outpost's solar panels suffered a debris strike. These spacewalks were a success, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said Wednesday (April 24) in a press conference reported by the state-run media outlet Xinhua.

The agency also plans to do more in the future to guard against space debris issues in orbit. The space station's core module Tianhe had suffered a partial loss of power supply due to the impact of the space debris on the solar wing's power cables," Xinhua reported, paraphrasing CMSA deputy director Lin Xiqiang.