China has sent an astronaut into space for a year-long mission: the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft has successfully docked with the space station
25 May 06:02
The Chinese manned spacecraft “Shenzhou-23” successfully docked with the PRC’s “Tiangong” space station. The docking of the spacecraft, launched into orbit from the Jiuquan Space Center using a “Changzheng-2F” carrier rocket, took place on Monday, May 25, at 02:45 Beijing time, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to DW.
On board the “Shenzhou-23” are three taikonauts: mission commander and flight engineer Zhu Yangzhu, pilot Zhang Zhiyuan, and payload specialist Li Jiajin. They are expected to relieve the three taikonauts who have been at the station since October 31, 2025, and to conduct a series of scientific experiments.
“Tiangong” is China’s national orbital station; its deployment into orbit was completed in late 2022. The station consists of three modules: the core module “Tianhe,” to which spacecraft dock, as well as the “Wentian” and “Mengtian” modules, where research is conducted. The Tiangong station is designed to accommodate three people at a time and is significantly smaller than the International Space Station.
China is researching long-term human stays and reproduction in space
During the upcoming mission, the taikonauts will study the effects of cosmic radiation on human physiology, including how bone density decreases under these conditions and how psychological stress arises. Additionally, in mid-May, blastocysts—artificial clusters of cells often compared to embryos—were sent to Tiangong.
It is expected that as part of the mission, one of the taikonauts from “Shenzhou-23” will spend about a year in Earth orbit—nearly twice as long as missions by Chinese astronauts typically last. Which taikonaut will remain at the station will be determined later based on observations of the mission participants.
For China, these observations are important as part of preparations for a lunar expedition planned for 2030, as well as for studying the possibilities of long-term human survival and reproduction in space.
