China's Shenzhou-21 crew, who are currently temporarily stuck aboard the Tiangong Space Station, will be sent an uncrewed backup spacecraft on Nov. 25.

China is set to launch an uncrewed Shenzhou spacecraft to the Tiangong space station to provide the Shenzhou-21 astronauts with a means of returning home.

An airspace closure notice issued Nov. 17 indicates that China is preparing the Shenzhou-22 spacecraft and a Long March 2F rocket for launch at around 11:10 p.m. Eastern Nov. 24 (0410 UTC, Nov. 25) from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. China’s human spaceflight agency has yet to publicly announce the plan.

The move comes after the Shenzhou-20 crew needed to use the recently-arrived Shenzhou-21 spacecraft to return home Nov. 14 after space debris damaged their own Shenzhou-20 spacecraft. This leaves the Shenzhou-21 astronauts apparently without a lifeboat in the case of a catastrophic emergency, such as depressurization or fire aboard Tiangong.