China to send astronaut on record year-long space mission amid Moon landing plans
Kyiv • UNN
China will launch the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft with three astronauts on board. One of the crew members will spend an entire year in orbit for research for the first time.
China will launch the Shenzhou-23 manned spacecraft with three astronauts on board on Sunday. One of the crew members will spend an entire year on the Tiangong orbital station, which will be the longest mission in the history of the Chinese space program. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
Details
The launch is scheduled for 23:08 local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The crew includes commander Zhu Yangzhu, pilot Zhang Yuanzhi, and payload specialist Li Jiaying—a former Hong Kong police officer who will become the first astronaut from the city to participate in a Chinese space mission.
One of the astronauts will remain on the Tiangong station for 12 months to study the effects of long-term space stay on the human body. The China Manned Space Agency noted that the final decision regarding this crew member will be made later, depending on the progress of the mission.
China and the US accelerate the moon race
The launch takes place against the backdrop of intensifying space rivalry between China and the United States. Beijing plans to land a human on the Moon by 2030 and establish a permanent lunar base together with Russia by 2035. Meanwhile, NASA aims to return astronauts to the Moon as early as 2028 as part of the Artemis program.
Reuters notes that China is actively building up its space capabilities. In 2024, the country became the first in the world to deliver soil samples from the far side of the Moon using a robotic mission. Beijing is also preparing Pakistani astronauts for flights, one of whom may join a future mission to Tiangong.