Jiquan, China: The Shenzhou-23 mission launched three astronauts to China’s Tiangong space station on Sunday, with one “crewed” set to stay in orbit for a year.
The Long March-2F rocket lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre at 11:08 p.m. local time, or 8:08 p.m. PKT, according to state media cited by Channel News Asia.
The crew includes commander Zhu Yangzhu, pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Lai Ka-ying, also known as Li Jiaying. AP reported that Lai is Hong Kong’s first astronaut on a Chinese space mission.
China’s human spaceflight agency, officially called the China Manned Space Agency, said it will decide later which astronaut will remain on Tiangong for the year-long stay. The mission will support long-duration human spaceflight research before China’s planned crewed Moon landing by 2030.
Read: Shenzhou-23 Mission To Send 3 Astronauts To Tiangong
The launch comes as NASA advances its Artemis programme. NASA said Artemis II carried Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen around the Moon and back in April 2026.
China has sent crews to Tiangong several times since building the station in low Earth orbit. The Shenzhou-23 flight adds a longer endurance test to Beijing’s human spaceflight programme.
