China launched its Shenzhou-23 mission on Sunday, sending three astronauts to its Tiangong space station aboard a Long March 2-F rocket that lifted off on schedule at 11:08pm local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China's northwestern Gobi Desert. The spacecraft separated from its rocket roughly ten minutes after launch and entered orbit, with the Chinese Manned Space Agency (CMSA) confirming the launch "a complete success" and reporting that all crew members were in good condition. One of the three astronauts is set to remain aboard the station for a full year — the first time China has attempted such a prolonged stay — in a milestone that marks a significant step forward in Beijing's ambition to land humans on the Moon before 2030.
The crew comprises commander Zhu Yangzhu, 39, a space engineer; Zhang Zhiyuan, 39, a former air force pilot making his first spaceflight; and Li Jiaying — known as Lai Ka-ying in Cantonese — a 43-year-old who previously served in the Hong Kong police and holds a doctoral degree in computer forensics. She becomes the first astronaut from Hong Kong to travel to space. The identity of the crew member who will undertake the year-long stay has not yet been announced; the CMSA said the selection will depend on the progress of the mission. The crew will also conduct an in-orbit handover with the Shenzhou-21 crew, who have been aboard Tiangong for more than 200 days.
The year-long experiment is designed to "explore human adaptability and performance limits" in long-duration spaceflight, state media reported. Experts say the challenges are considerable. Richard de Grijs, an astrophysicist at Macquarie University in Australia, highlighted the risks of bone density loss, muscle wasting, radiation exposure, sleep disturbances and psychological fatigue, as well as the critical importance of reliable water and air recycling systems and the capacity to manage medical emergencies far from Earth. "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," de Grijs said. Beyond the one-year experiment, the crew will conduct dozens of scientific projects spanning life sciences, materials science, fluid physics and medicine, including work related to a human artificial embryo experiment already under way aboard the station.
The mission fits into a broader and rapidly accelerating Chinese space programme. Tiangong — which translates as "Heavenly Palace" — has hosted crews continuously since 2021, built partly as a consequence of China's exclusion from the International Space Station since 2011, when the United States barred NASA from collaborating with Beijing on national security grounds. China is developing a next-generation crewed spacecraft, the Mengzhou — meaning "Dream Vessel" — with an orbital test flight planned for 2026; it is intended to eventually carry Chinese astronauts to the Moon. Beijing has also set a target of establishing the first phase of a manned lunar base, the International Lunar Research Station, by 2035. China also plans to host its first foreign astronaut, from Pakistan, aboard Tiangong before the end of this year.
The mission places China in direct competition with the United States, which is pursuing crewed lunar landings through its Artemis programme, with NASA targeting a return to the lunar surface in 2028. China's recent space record has been striking: in 2019 it became the first country to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, and in 2021 it successfully landed a rover on Mars. Analysts see the Shenzhou-23 mission's year-long stay as a crucial data point in preparing for the long-duration travel that any crewed mission beyond Earth orbit — whether to the Moon or eventually Mars — will require.