JIUQUAN, China (AP) — China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft on Sunday night, sending three astronauts to its space station, including one who is set to remain in orbit for an entire year.
The spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, marking a significant step as the country gears up for its first crewed lunar landing planned for 2030.
The Shenzhou 23 mission includes Commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying, who is also known as Li Jiaying in Mandarin. Lai, a Hong Kong native with a doctorate in computer forensics, becomes the first astronaut from the city to participate in a space mission.
The crew is expected to conduct numerous scientific and application projects during their stay. They will also perform an in-orbit rotation with the crew of Shenzhou 21, who have been aboard the Tiangong space station for over 200 days.
One astronaut from the Shenzhou 23 mission will remain at the space station for a year, participating in 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 reports.
As China intensifies its space exploration efforts, its astronauts have completed multiple missions to the Tiangong space station. This program has developed in part due to China’s exclusion from the International Space Station, driven by U.S. national security concerns.
The U.S. remains China’s primary competitor in space, with NASA planning to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2028.
China’s Tiangong space station, meaning ‘Heavenly Palace,’ first accommodated astronauts in 2021. An emergency mission last year involved the Shenzhou program, which successfully retrieved a team of astronauts stranded on the space station due to a damaged spacecraft.