China launches Shenzhou 23 spacecraft with 1 of 3 astronauts set for yearlong stay
JIUQUAN, China — JIUQUAN, China (AP) — China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday evening with three astronauts en route to its space station, one of whom is expected to stay in space for a year.
The spacecraft took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The highly anticipated launch comes as China prepares for its first crewed moon landing by 2030.
The mission’s astronauts are Zhu Yangzhu, commander, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, also identified by Chinese authorities as Li Jiaying using the Mandarin transliteration of her name.
Lai, born and raised in Hong Kong and with a doctorate in computer forensics, is the city’s first astronaut to complete a space mission.
The crew is expected to carry out dozens of scientific projects and applications, state media said. They are also expected to rotate in orbit with the Shenzhou 21 crew, which has been at the Tiangong space station for more than 200 days.
One of the three astronauts on the Shenzhou 23 mission is expected to stay at the orbiting space station for a year, which would be one of the world’s longest 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 multiple missions to the Tiangong space station, developed after China was effectively excluded from the International Space Station due to U.S. national security concerns.
The United States is considered China’s main rival in space, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.
China’s Tiangong space station, meaning “Heavenly Palace,” welcomed the country’s crew for the first time in 2021. Last year, an emergency mission from the Shenzhou program, meaning “Divine Vessel,” brought back 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.
