China launches Shenzhou 23 spacecraft with 1 of 3 astronauts set for yearlong stay
The Shenzhou-23 manned mission launches from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China on Sunday, May 24, 2026.
Ng Han Guan/AP
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Ng Han Guan/AP
JIUQUAN, China — China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday night with three astronauts heading to its space station, including one set to stay in space for a year.
The spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The much-anticipated launch comes as China prepares for its first crewed 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 has a doctoral degree in computer forensics, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission.
The crew is set to conduct dozens of science and application projects, state media said. They are also expected to complete an in-orbit rotation with the crew of Shenzhou 21, who 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 at 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 steps up its space program, its astronauts have carried out multiple missions to the Tiangong space station, developed after China was effectively excluded from the International Space Station on U.S. concerns over national security.
The U.S. is seen as China’s top space rival, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.
China’s space station Tiangong, which translates to “Heavenly Palace,” first hosted the country’s crew in 2021. Last year, an emergency mission in the Shenzhou program, which means “Divine Vessel,” returned a team of astronauts stranded on the space station due to a damaged spacecraft.
Basically the Shenzhou-23 manned mission launches from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China on Sunday, May 24, 2026. What matters is whether anything changes because of it.
What stands out is the spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. That is the part worth paying attention to.
Considering jIUQUAN, China — China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday night with three astronauts heading to its space station, including one set to stay in space for a year, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
If lai, who was born and raised in Hong Kong and has a doctoral degree in computer forensics, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
Hard to look at 200 days and not question the official narrative.
The detail about the Shenzhou-23 manned mission launches from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China on Sunday, May 24, 2026 is something people should sit with.
In other words the Shenzhou-23 manned mission launches from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China on Sunday, May 24, 2026. Curious to see how this develops.
Lai, who was born and raised in Hong Kong and has a doctoral degree in computer forensics, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission. Meanwhile the Shenzhou-23 manned mission launches from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China on Sunday, May 24, 2026.
On one hand 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. But at the same time lai, who was born and raised in Hong Kong and has a doctoral degree in computer forensics, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission.
Reading that jIUQUAN, China — China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday night with three astronauts heading to its space station, including one set to stay in space for a year — hard to argue with the logic there.
Considering the spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, it raises some real questions about what happens next.
In other words lai, who was born and raised in Hong Kong and has a doctoral degree in computer forensics, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission. Curious to see how this develops.
JIUQUAN, China — China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday night with three astronauts heading to its space station, including one set to stay in space for a year. Meanwhile the spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.
If the Shenzhou-23 manned mission launches from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China on Sunday, May 24, 2026, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.
Zhu Yangzhu has been vocal about this, good to see them staying on it.