JIUQUAN – On Sunday night, China successfully launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft, sending three astronauts to its space station, with one member of the team set to remain in space for an entire year.
The spacecraft made its ascent from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, located in northwestern China. This pivotal launch is a key step in China’s ambitious space exploration plans, which include a crewed lunar landing anticipated by 2030.
The mission’s crew consists of Zhu Yangzhu, serving as the mission commander, alongside astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also known by her Mandarin name, Li Jiaying.
Notably, Lai Ka-ying, a Hong Kong native with a PhD in computer forensics, marks a historic moment as she becomes the first astronaut from Hong Kong to embark on a space mission.
During their mission, the crew is slated to undertake a series of scientific and application-related projects, according to state media. They will also perform an in-orbit crew rotation with the Shenzhou 21 team, who have been residing at the Tiangong space station for over 200 days.
One of the astronauts on board Shenzhou 23 is set to remain stationed at the orbital outpost for a full year. This assignment is poised to be among the longest durations a human has spent in space, with the mission aiming to investigate human adaptability and the physiological limits of long-term space travel, as reported by state media.
As China steps up its space program, its astronauts have carried out multiple missions to the Tiangong space station, developed after China was effectively excluded from the International Space Station on U.S. concerns over national security.
The U.S. is seen as China’s top space rival, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.
China’s space station Tiangong, which translates to “Heavenly Palace,” first hosted the country’s crew in 2021. Last year, an emergency mission in the Shenzhou program, which means “Divine Vessel,” returned a team of astronauts stranded on the space station due to a damaged spacecraft.
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Associated Press video journalist Wu Jia in Jiuquan, China contributed to this report.
