China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday night from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. A Long March 2-F rocket carried three astronauts to the Tiangong space station, also known as the Heavenly Palace. The crew consists of commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying, who is the first astronaut from Hong Kong and holds a doctoral degree in computer forensics.
The crew will conduct dozens of science and application projects and complete an in-orbit rotation with the Shenzhou 21 crew, who have spent more than 200 days at the station. Notably, one astronaut is scheduled to remain in orbit for a full year, marking the first time a Chinese astronaut has done so. This mission seeks to explore human adaptability and performance limits in long-duration spaceflight environments and microgravity.
This mission is a key step in Beijing's plan to put people on the moon by 2030, following billions of dollars invested in its space program over the past three decades. China's space efforts have accelerated after the country was effectively excluded from the International Space Station due to U.S. national security concerns. The U.S. is seen as China's top space rival, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.
The Tiangong station first hosted a crew in 2021. Last year, an emergency mission in the Shenzhou program returned a team of astronauts who had been stranded on the station due to a damaged spacecraft.