China is set to send an astronaut to its space station on Sunday for a one-year mission, marking a record duration for the country as it advances its plan for a crewed Moon landing by 2030, reports Reuters.
The Shenzhou-23 spacecraft is scheduled to launch at 11:08pm (1508 GMT) using a Long March-2F Y23 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China, carrying three astronauts.
Payload specialist Li Jiaying, a former Hong Kong police inspector, will become 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 astronaut division.
One of the three astronauts will stay aboard the Tiangong space station for one year to study the effects of long-duration human presence in space. The final assignment will be decided later depending on mission progress, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
China has previously sent astronauts to its space station nearly a dozen times, but this mission comes amid an intensifying space race with the United States, both aiming for lunar exploration.
NASA is targeting a crewed Moon landing in 2028, while China aims for 2030. The United States has also expressed concerns over Beijing’s alleged plans to establish a long-term presence on the Moon, claims which China has rejected.
NASA recently carried out the Artemis II mission, sending four astronauts on a historic journey around the Moon. Meanwhile, SpaceX has completed a largely successful uncrewed test flight of its next-generation Starship rocket, designed for future lunar and Mars missions.
China has only sent robotic missions to the Moon so far but has made significant progress in its space programme. In 2024, it became the first country to collect samples from the Moon’s far side.
Beijing is also working toward establishing a permanent lunar base by 2035 in collaboration with Russia.
The upcoming Shenzhou-23 mission will also conduct scientific studies on radiation exposure, bone density loss and psychological stress during long-duration space travel.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
