China Launches Crewed Space Flight as Part of Moon Ambitions
China launched the crewed Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, facilitating its successful docking with a space station early Monday as part of Beijing’s goal to send humans to the Moon by 2030, state media said.
During this mission, a Chinese astronaut is scheduled to spend a full year orbiting the Tiangong space station, a significant first in China’s lunar landing program.
The Long March 2-F rocket exploded in a cloud of flames and smoke on time from the Jiuquan launch center in northwestern China’s Gobi Desert at 23:08 (1508 GMT) Sunday night, according to video from state broadcaster CCTV.
China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said in a statement on social media that the spacecraft separated from the rocket and entered orbit after about 10 minutes.
“The astronauts are in good condition and the launch was a complete success,” he added.
According to state news agency Xinhua, citing CMSA, the vehicle successfully docked with the Tiangong space station after a flight of approximately 3.5 hours.
The mission represents the first spaceflight by a Hong Kong astronaut named Li Jiaying (Lai Ka-ying in Cantonese), a 43-year-old who previously worked for the Hong Kong police.
The other two members of the crew are Zhu Yangzhu, a 39-year-old aerospace engineer, and Zhang Zhiyuan, a 39-year-old former air force pilot who is making his first trip to space.
The crowd waved Chinese flags, a band played and three astronauts saluted on stage at a farewell ceremony before the launch.
The crew is preparing to carry out numerous scientific projects in the fields of life sciences, materials science, fluid physics and medicine.
A key experiment for Shenzhou-23 will be to keep one of the crew members in orbit all year long to study the effects of prolonged stays in microgravity.
– A year-long experiment –
The experiment is part of China’s preparations for future moon missions and Mars missions.
The name of the astronaut selected for this one-year mission will be named at a later date depending on the progress of the Shenzhou-23 mission, a CMSA spokesman said on Saturday.
Richard de Grijs, an astrophysicist and professor at Macquarie University in Australia, said the main challenges will include long-term effects on humans such as loss of bone density, muscle wasting, radiation exposure, sleep disturbances, behavioral and psychological fatigue.
It also highlighted the importance of reliable water and air recycling systems, as well as the ability to manage potential medical emergencies far from Earth.
China is “steadily” building operational experience for a “sustained occupation” of the Tiangong space station, de Grijs told AFP, adding that the year-long missions were an important step towards future lunar and potentially deep space targets.
“A year in orbit pushes both hardware and people into a different operational regime compared to the shorter Shenzhou missions in earlier phases of the program,” he said.
The crew aboard the Tiangong has largely remained in orbit for six months so far before being replaced.
The Shenzhou-23 mission is part of China’s goal to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030; The USA is also competing in this race with the Artemis program.
– Pakistani crew members –
China is testing the equipment necessary for its target with the orbital test flight of the new Mengzhou spacecraft, scheduled for 2026.
The Mengzhou ship will replace the aging Shenzhou line and carry China’s astronauts to the Moon.
Beijing hopes to build the first phase of a manned scientific base, known as the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), by 2035.
China also plans to host the first foreign astronaut from Pakistan at Tiangong station by the end of this year.
The Asian giant has significantly expanded its space programs over the past 30 years, injecting billions of dollars into the sector in a bid to catch up with the US, Russia and Europe.
In 2019, China landed the Chang’e-4 spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, a world first.
It later landed a small rover on Mars in 2021.
China has been officially excluded from the International Space Station (ISS) since 2011, when the US banned NASA from cooperating with Beijing, leading the Asian giant to develop its own space station project.
