Foreign Media: China Launches Shenzhou-23 Manned Mission, First to Arrange Astronauts Staying in Space for a Full Year
According to AFP, China launched the Shenzhou-23 manned mission on Sunday, May 24, during which one Chinese astronaut will make his first full-year stay in orbit. This marks a significant step toward Beijing’s goal of sending humans to the Moon before 2030.
Official CCTV footage showed that a Long March 2F carrier rocket lifted off at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in the Gobi Desert, carrying the spacecraft and three astronauts to the "Tiangong" space station. Notably, this mission also marks the first time a Hong Kong astronaut will fly in space. The 43-year-old Li Jiaying previously served in the Hong Kong police force. The other two crew members are Commander Zhu Yangzhu, aged 39, a spacecraft engineer, and Zhang Zhiyuan, aged 39, a former air force pilot, making his first trip to space.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced in a statement that the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft has successfully entered its designated orbit, calling the launch “a complete success.” The spacecraft is expected to dock with the Tiangong space station within several hours. The crew will conduct multiple scientific experiments in fields including life sciences, materials science, fluid physics, and medicine while aboard the station.
However, the most distinctive feature of the Shenzhou-23 mission is the first attempt to have one astronaut remain in orbit for a full year. This experiment aims to study the long-term effects of microgravity on the human body—critical knowledge for future crewed lunar missions and eventual Mars expeditions.
A CMSA official stated on Saturday, May 23, that the specific astronaut assigned to the one-year stay would be determined later based on mission progress.
Professor Richard De Grijs, an astrophysicist at Macquarie University in Australia, told AFP that the biggest challenge lies in “the impact on the human body,” including “loss of bone density, muscle atrophy, radiation exposure, sleep disturbances, and behavioral and psychological fatigue.” He also emphasized the importance of reliable water and air recycling systems, as well as the ability to handle medical emergencies when far from Earth. He added, “China has already developed strong capabilities in these areas, but this mission’s duration is unprecedented. A one-year orbital mission will place both equipment and personnel under entirely different operational conditions compared to previous shorter-duration Shenzhou missions.”
Currently, astronauts stationed on the Tiangong space station typically remain in orbit for about six months before rotating back to Earth.
The Shenzhou-23 mission is part of China’s broader effort to achieve crewed lunar landing by 2030—a goal echoed by the United States through its Artemis program. Since 2011, China has been officially excluded from the International Space Station (ISS) project, following a U.S. ban on NASA cooperation with China. This exclusion spurred China to accelerate its own space station initiative.
To realize its lunar ambitions, China is currently testing relevant equipment. In 2026, it plans to conduct the first orbital test flight of its next-generation crewed spacecraft, the "Mengzhou." This vehicle will eventually replace the aging Shenzhou series and take on future missions transporting astronauts to the Moon.
Beijing hopes to establish the initial phase of a crewed research base on the Moon—the “International Lunar Research Station” (ILRS)—before 2035. Additionally, China plans to welcome its first foreign astronaut into the Tiangong space station by the end of 2026; the astronaut will come from Pakistan.
Over the past three decades, China has vigorously developed its space program, investing billions of euros to reach the levels of the United States, Russia, and Europe. Especially over the last decade, China’s progress in space exploration has been remarkable. In 2019, China achieved the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the Moon by a probe—Chang’e-4. In 2021, it successfully deployed a small robotic rover on Mars.
Source: rfi
Original Article: toutiao.com/article/1866119327633415/
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