China will send an astronaut to its space station on Sunday (May 24, 2026) for a year, a record length for the country, enabling the study of ‌long-duration human physiology in space as Beijing works towards its ambition of a crewed moon landing by 2030.

The Shenzhou-23 vessel is scheduled to launch at 11:08 p.m. (1508 GMT) using the Long March-2F Y23 ⁠carrier rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, with three Chinese astronauts on board.

Payload specialist Li Jiaying, a former Hong Kong police inspector, will be the first astronaut from the city to take part in a Chinese space mission. The other crew members are Commander Zhu ‌Yangzhu and Pilot Zhang Yuanzhi, both from the People’s Liberation Army’s astronaut division.

China, U.S. set sights on moon

One of the three is to stay on the Tiangong space station for a year, one of ‌the longest space missions ever, but short of the 14-1/2 month record set by a Russian cosmonaut in ‌1995. ⁠That astronaut will be decided later, depending on the progress of the mission, the China Manned Space Agency ⁠said on Saturday (May 23, 2026).

China has sent astronauts to its space station almost a dozen times, but this launch comes amid an accelerating race to the moon with the U.S., which has warned about what it alleges are Beijing’s plans to colonise and mine lunar territory and resources.

Beijing has strongly rejected these claims.

NASA is seeking to achieve a crewed moon landing ‌in 2028, two years ahead of China. The U.S. aims to establish a long-term lunar presence as a stepping stone to eventual human exploration of Mars.

In April, four NASA astronauts made a historic trip around the moon as part of the Artemis II mission, flying farther from Earth than anyone before in the world’s first crewed lunar mission in ‌half a century.

On Friday (May 22, 2026), Elon Musk’s SpaceX made a largely successful, uncrewed test flight of its next-generation Starship rocket, which is designed to enable more frequent Starlink satellite launches and to send future NASA missions to the moon.

China, with less than four years until its 2030 deadline, faces a tall order of ⁠developing entirely new hardware and software specific to its lunar mission, proving it is mission-ready. That will ensure its astronauts, used to the relative safety of Tiangong in low-Earth orbit, can safely make the riskier transition to the moon’s surface.

China’s Shenzhou missions have ‌been sending trios of astronauts to the station for six-month stays since 2021. The Chinese space agency is training two Pakistani astronauts, one of whom could join an expected mission to Tiangong this year on a short-duration basis.

Goal of permanent lunar base by 2035

The previous mission, Shenzhou-22, was launched ahead of schedule in November to return three Chinese astronauts to Earth after their Shenzhou-20 vessel was damaged by space debris in orbit.

China has only sent robots to the moon, but its successive Shenzhou missions highlight the country’s rapidly improving space capabilities. In June 2024, China became the first country to recover lunar samples from the moon’s ‌far side, using robots.

A successful crewed landing before 2030 would boost China’s plans to establish a permanent base on the moon by 2035 with Russia.

The Chinese lunar programme’s chief scientist, Wu Weiren, has said Beijing’s public timeline is intentionally conservative.

Over the past year, Beijing has been carrying out safety tests of hardware developed for the 2030 mission, including heavy-lift Long ⁠March-10 rockets, the Mengzhou spacecraft and the Lanyue lunar lander.

The Shenzhou-23 flight will execute the first autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking procedure ⁠with the core module of Tiangong in preparation for the 2030 mission, which hinges on an automated lunar-orbit rendezvous between the Mengzhou capsule and the Lanyue lander.

Scientists will also study the physiological effects of radiation exposure, bone density ‌loss and psychological stress in space for the extended duration of the Shenzhou-23 mission.

Beijing is conducting the world’s first human “artificial embryo” experiment in space, having sent samples of human stem cells to the Shenzhou-22 crew on the Tiangong this month, state media reported. The experiment is intended to study the long-term residence, survival and reproduction of human beings in space.

Published – May 24, 2026 05:18 am IST

Jiuquan:

China’s only woman spaceflight engineer will be among a fresh crew of three astronauts sent to its Tiangong space station this week, Beijing announced Tuesday. The Shenzhou-19 mission is scheduled to blast off with its trio of space explorers at 4:27 am Wednesday (2027 GMT Tuesday) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said.

Among the crew is Wang Haoze, who according to the space agency is currently China’s only female spaceflight engineer. She will become the third Chinese woman to take part in a crewed mission.

Headed by Cai Xuzhe, the team will carry out their mission before returning to Earth in “late April or early May next year”, CMSA Deputy Director Lin Xiqiang said at a Tuesday press conference confirming the launch.

Cai, a 48-year-old former air force pilot, brings experience from a previous stint aboard Tiangong as part of the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022.

Completing the astronaut lineup is Song Lingdong, Lin announced.

The crew currently aboard the Tiangong space station is scheduled to return to Earth on November 4 after completing handover procedures with the incoming astronauts, Lin said.

China’s space programme, the third to put humans in orbit, has also landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon.

The Tiangong space station — crewed by teams of three astronauts that are exchanged every six months — is the crown jewel of the country’s space programme.

China has ramped up plans to achieve its “space dream” under President Xi Jinping.

Beijing says it aims to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030, where it intends to construct a base on the lunar surface.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A Long March rocket carrying a crew of Chinese astronauts in a Shenzhou-18 spaceship blast off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, on April 25, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

China launched a three-member crew to its orbiting space station on April 25 as part of its ambitious program that aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030.

The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China atop a Long March 2-F rocket at 8:59 p.m. (1259 GMT).

The spacecraft’s three-member crew will relieve the Shenzhou-17 team, which has been staffing China’s Tiangong space station since last October.

The China Manned Space Agency, or CMSA, held a send-off ceremony — complete with flag-waving children and patriotic music — for the Shenzhou-18 crew earlier on Thursday, as the three astronauts prepared to enter the spacecraft.

The trio is made of Commander Ye Guangfu, 43, a veteran astronaut who took part in the Shenzhou-13 mission in 2021, and fighter pilots Li Cong, 34, and Li Guangsu, 36, who are spaceflight rookies.

They are expected to reach the space station about six-and-a-half hours after liftoff.

China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely because of U.S. concerns over the Chinese military’s involvement in the program. This year, the Chinese station is slated for two cargo spacecraft missions and two manned spaceflight missions.

The Shenzhou-18 crew will spend about six months on the space station. They will conduct scientific tests, install space debris protection equipment on the station, carry out payload experiments, and popularize science education, among other things, according to Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA.

Lin also said China was working toward eventually offering access to its space station to foreign astronauts and space tourists.

“We will accelerate the research and promotion of the participation of foreign astronauts and space tourists on flights on China’s space station,” he said in a press conference Wednesday.

The country is planning a mission to bring back samples from Mars around 2030 and three lunar probe missions over the next four years. It also wants to put astronauts on the moon by 2030.

China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the U.S. to put a person into space using its own resources.

The U.S. space program is believed to still hold a significant edge over China’s due to its spending, supply chains and capabilities. However, China has broken out in some areas, bringing samples back from the lunar surface for the first time in decades and landing a rover on the less explored far side of the moon.

The U.S. aims to put a crew back on the lunar surface by the end of 2025 as part of a renewed commitment to crewed missions, aided by private sector players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Staff members sit during a press conference for the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft launch by Lin Xiqiang, spokesperson and deputy director general of the Chinese Manned Space Agency, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, on October 25, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

China announced plans on October 25 to send a new telescope to probe deep into the universe as it prepared to launch the country’s next, three-member crew for its orbiting space station.

The telescope, dubbed Xuntian, will be installed by China’s Tiangong space station and will co-orbit with it, according to a statement from Lin Xiqiang, spokesperson and deputy director general of the Chinese Manned Space Agency.

No timeframe was given for the installation. State broadcaster CCTV said the telescope would enable surveys and mapping of the sky.

China has researched the movement of stars and planets for thousands of years while in modern times, it has pushed to become a leader in space exploration and science.

The announcement came on the eve of the flight by three astronauts — Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin — who will replace a crew that has been on the station for six months.

The launch is expected for late morning on Thursday. Tang is a veteran who led a 2021 space mission for three months.

China has made majors advance in its burgeoning space power and says it plans to send a crewed mission to the moon by the end of the decade while also pursuing other ambitions in space.

The program largely comes in competition with the United States but also seeks to draw in support from nations in Europe, Southeast Asia, South America and elsewhere.

China built its own space station after it was excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to U.S. concerns over the control of the program by the People’s Liberation Army, the military branch of the ruling Communist Party.

China’s first manned space mission in 2003 made it the third country after the former Soviet Union and the U.S. to put a person into space using its own resources.

American spending, supply chains and capabilities are believed to give it a significant edge over China for the time being. China has broken out in some areas, however, bringing samples back from the lunar surface for the first time in decades and landing a rover on the less explored far side of the moon.

Meanwhile, the U.S. aims to put astronauts back on the lunar surface by the end of 2025 as part of a renewed commitment to crewed missions, aided by private sector players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin.

In addition to their lunar programs, the two countries have also separately landed rovers on Mars, and China plans to follow the U.S. in landing a spacecraft on an asteroid.

The new crew of the station will also need to conduct maintenance on its solar panels that have been hit by debris flying within the solar system, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

A large amount of those particles were created by China in the destruction of one of its own satellites by a missile it fired in 2007, in what was seen as a sign of strength against its competitors in the U.S. and its allies.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, an image captured off a screen at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China shows the Shenzhou-15 and Shenzhou-14 crew taking a group picture with their thumbs up after a historic gathering in space on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022.
| Photo Credit: AP

China plans to expand its space station to six modules from three in coming years, offering astronauts from other nations an alternative platform for near-Earth missions as the NASA-led International Space Station (ISS) nears the end of its lifespan.

The operational lifetime of the Chinese space station will be more than 15 years, the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a unit of China’s main space contractor, said at the 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Wednesday.

That would be more than the 10 years previously announced.

China’s self-built space station, also known as Tiangong, or Celestial Palace in Chinese, has been fully operational since late 2022, hosting a maximum of three astronauts at an orbital altitude of up to 450 km (280 miles).

Also Read | China successfully launches new manned spaceship with first civilian on board

At 180 metric tons after its expansion to six modules, Tiangong is still just 40% of the mass of the ISS, which can hold a crew of seven astronauts. But the ISS, in orbit for more than two decades, is expected to be decommissioned after 2030, about the same time China has said it expects to become “a major space power”.

Chinese state media said last year as Tiangong became fully operational that China would be no “slouch” as the ISS headed toward retirement, adding that “several countries” had asked to send their astronauts to the Chinese station.

But in a blow to China’s aspirations for space diplomacy, the European Space Agency (ESA) said this year it did not have the budgetary or “political” green light to participate in Tiangong, shelving a years-long plan for a visit by European astronauts.

Also Read | China plans to land astronauts on moon before 2030, another step in what looks like a new space race

“Giving up cooperation with China in the manned space domain is clearly short-sighted, which reveals that the U.S.-led camp confrontation has led to a new space race,” the Global Times, a nationalist Chinese tabloid, wrote at the time.

Tiangong has become an emblem of China’s growing clout and confidence in its space endeavours, and a challenger to the United States in the domain after being isolated from the ISS. It is banned by U.S. law from any collaboration, direct or indirect, with NASA.

Russia, a participant in the ISS, has similar space diplomacy plans, suggesting that Moscow’s partners in the BRICS group – Brazil, India, China and South Africa – could construct a module for its space station.

Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said last year it was planning to build a space station comprising six modules that could accommodate up to four cosmonauts.