The long-awaited launch comes as China prepares for its first manned lunar landing by 2030.
JIUQUAN, China (AP) — China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday night with three astronauts bound for its space station, including one set to stay in space for a year.
The spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The long-awaited launch comes as China prepares for its first manned lunar landing by 2030.
The astronauts on the mission are Zhu Yangzhu, the commander, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, also identified by Chinese authorities as Li Jiaying using the Mandarin transliteration of her name.
Lai, who was born and raised in Hong Kong and holds a doctorate degree in computer forensics, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission.
The crew is set to carry out dozens of scientific and application projects, state media said. They are also expected to complete an orbit with the crew of Shenzhou 21, which has been at the Tiangong space station for more than 200 days.
One of the three astronauts on the Shenzhou 23 mission is scheduled to stay aboard the orbiting space station for a year in what would be among the world’s longest single stays in space. The astronaut’s mission is to “explore human adaptability and performance limits” in long-duration spaceflight environments, state media reported.
As China ramps up its space program, its astronauts have flown numerous missions to the Tiangong space station, developed after China was effectively kicked out of the International Space Station over US national security concerns. The US is seen as China’s main space rival, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.
China’s space station Tiangong, which translates to “Heavenly Palace”, welcomed the country’s crew for the first time in 2021. Last year, an emergency mission on the Shenzhou program, which means “Divine Ship”, returned a team of astronauts stranded on the space station due to a damaged ship.
By HAN GUAN NG Associated Press
Subscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing arguments provides the latest on ongoing trials, major litigation and decisions in courts around the US and the world, while monthly Under the lights feeds legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.
