JIUQUAN, China (AP) — China successfully launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft on Sunday night, transporting three astronauts to its space station, including one who will remain in orbit for a year.
The launch occurred at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China and is part of China’s broader efforts to prepare for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030.
The Shenzhou 23 mission crew includes commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying, who is also known as Li Jiaying in Mandarin. Lai, a native of Hong Kong with a doctorate in computer forensics, marks a significant milestone as the first astronaut from the city to participate in a space mission.
The astronauts are expected to undertake numerous scientific and application projects during their stay. Additionally, they will complete an in-orbit rotation with the crew of Shenzhou 21, which has already spent over 200 days aboard the Tiangong space station.
One astronaut on the Shenzhou 23 mission is scheduled for an extended stay of one year at the space station, potentially one of the longest single stays in space. This mission aims to investigate human adaptability and performance limits in long-duration spaceflight environments, according to state media.
As China advances its space program, it has conducted multiple missions to the Tiangong space station, developed after the country faced exclusion from the International Space Station due to U.S. national security concerns.
The United States remains a primary competitor in space exploration, with NASA planning to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2028.
The Tiangong space station, meaning ‘Heavenly Palace,’ first welcomed its crew in 2021. In a notable incident last year, an emergency mission within the Shenzhou program rescued astronauts stranded on the space station due to a damaged spacecraft.