Lai Ka-ying joins Shenzhou-23 launch to Tiangong Space Station

China launched the Shenzhou-23 mission on Sunday from the Jiuquan launch centre in north-western China, sending three astronauts to the tiangong space station. Lai Ka-ying, 43, became the first astronaut from Hong Kong to go into space.

The crew will carry out scientific work in life sciences, materials science, fluid physics and medicine, while one astronaut is due to spend a full year in orbit for the first time in China’s programme.

Jiuquan launch centre mission

The Long March 2-F rocket lifted off carrying Lai, Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan. Zhu, a 39-year-old space engineer, and Zhang, a 39-year-old former air force pilot, are both flying in space for the first time.

China’s space agency will name later which astronaut will remain in orbit for the full year. Tiangong crews have usually stayed for about six months before replacement, making the longer stay a deliberate shift in how China is using the station.

Richard de Grijs on orbit

Richard de Grijs, an astrophysicist and professor at Macquarie University, said, “A year in orbit pushes both hardware and humans into a different operational regime compared with the shorter Shenzhou missions of the programme’s earlier phases”.

The mission also fits into China’s wider plans for human spaceflight. Beijing has expanded its space programmes over the last 30 years with billions of dollars in investment, aims to land astronauts on the moon before 2030, plans an orbital test flight of its Mengzhou spacecraft in 2026 and hopes to complete the first phase of the International Lunar Research Station by 2035.

Pakistan astronaut to Tiangong

China also plans to welcome its first foreign astronaut from Pakistan to the tiangong space station by the end of this year. For readers watching China’s space programme, the immediate milestone is the start of a mission that will test longer stays in orbit and place Hong Kong’s first astronaut in space on a crew heading to Tiangong.