Shenzhou-23 (神舟二十三号) Targeted for Launch Tomorrow at 23:08 Beijing Time

Mission set for May 24, 23:08 BJT

China’s next crewed mission, Shenzhou-23 (神舟二十三号), is slated to lift off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (酒泉卫星发射中心) at 23:08 Beijing time on May 24, authorities announced at a press briefing today. The spacecraft will perform an autonomous fast rendezvous and dock to the radial port of the Tianhe core module (天和核心舱), forming a three-ship, three-module station configuration designed to continue rotating crew and expanding in-orbit science work.

Crew composition and firsts

The three-person crew is commanded by flight engineer Zhu Yangzhu (朱杨柱), and includes astronaut-pilot Zhang Zhiyuan (张志远) and payload specialist Li Jiaying (黎家盈). Zhu is the first flight engineer to serve as commander and previously flew on Shenzhou-16; Zhang and Li are making their first spaceflights. Li Jiaying — reported to have served in the Hong Kong Police Force before selection — is China’s first female payload specialist selected from its Hong Kong and Macau recruitment channel. This is the first mixed crew drawn from China’s third and fourth astronaut cohorts.

One-year residency, science goals

It has been reported that one crew member (to be confirmed based on in-orbit tasking) will undertake a one-year in-orbit residency trial. Why a year? The long-duration flight is intended to launch China’s first comprehensive human spaceflight research program to collect extended biomedical data, validate health-support systems and refine long-term crew operations. Mission science will include more than 100 experiments across space life sciences (from zebrafish and mouse embryos to stem-cell “artificial embryo” work), materials science (advanced magnetic and high-entropy alloys), microgravity fluid physics, aerospace medicine and in-orbit power/storage technology demonstrations.

Readiness and geopolitical context

Launch preparations are reported to be on track: the Shenzhou-23 stack was transferred vertically to the Jiuquan pad on May 16, ground systems and flight hardware are declared ready, and the incumbent Shenzhou-21 crew will be rotated back to Earth after the handover. The flight comes as China continues to build independent end-to-end human spaceflight capabilities amid broader US-China technology competition and export controls, underscoring Beijing’s drive to domestically sustain long-duration space science and operational expertise. This mission is the seventh crewed flight of China’s space station application and development phase and the 40th flight of the country’s human spaceflight program.