NEW DELHI: A three-member astronaut crew from China’s Shenzhou-18 mission took off on Thursday aboard a rocket heading to the Tiangong space station, state media reported.
This is the latest mission in Beijing’s space program, which aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.
According to state media, the Shenzhou-18, or “God ship,” spacecraft and its three passengers lifted off on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 8:58 p.m. (1258 GMT).
The six-month mission was led by 43-year-old Ye Guangfu, who last visited Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace” in Chinese, in October 2021 during China’s second manned mission to the station.
This time he was accompanied by Li Cong, 34, and Li Guangsu, 36, both first time in space and part of the newest group of astronauts participating in China’s spaceflight program.
All three men were former Air Force pilots.
China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to US concerns about the involvement of the People’s Liberation Army – the military arm of the Chinese Communist Party – in the program. This year, the station is expected to support two cargo spacecraft missions and two manned spaceflight missions.
During Wednesday’s press conference, the China Manned Space Administration (CMSA) introduced three astronauts: Commander Ye Guangfu, 43, a veteran astronaut who participated in the Shenzhou-13 mission in 2021; and astronauts Li Cong (34) and Li Guangsu (36), who will fly into space for the first time.
The Shenzhou-18 crew will spend about six months on the space station. They will include: conduct scientific tests, install space debris protection equipment on the space station, conduct payload experiments and popularize science education, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of CMSA.
Lin also said China is working to eventually open its space station to foreign astronauts and space tourists.
“We will accelerate research and promotion of the participation of foreign astronauts and space tourists in flights with the Chinese space station,” he said. “We definitely expect to see astronauts with different identities on the Chinese space station.”
China carried out its first manned space mission in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to put a man into space using its own resources.
(With the participation of the agency)
This is the latest mission in Beijing’s space program, which aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.
According to state media, the Shenzhou-18, or “God ship,” spacecraft and its three passengers lifted off on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 8:58 p.m. (1258 GMT).
The six-month mission was led by 43-year-old Ye Guangfu, who last visited Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace” in Chinese, in October 2021 during China’s second manned mission to the station.
This time he was accompanied by Li Cong, 34, and Li Guangsu, 36, both first time in space and part of the newest group of astronauts participating in China’s spaceflight program.
All three men were former Air Force pilots.
China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to US concerns about the involvement of the People’s Liberation Army – the military arm of the Chinese Communist Party – in the program. This year, the station is expected to support two cargo spacecraft missions and two manned spaceflight missions.
Boost
The Shenzhou-18 crew will spend about six months on the space station. They will include: conduct scientific tests, install space debris protection equipment on the space station, conduct payload experiments and popularize science education, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of CMSA.
Lin also said China is working to eventually open its space station to foreign astronauts and space tourists.
“We will accelerate research and promotion of the participation of foreign astronauts and space tourists in flights with the Chinese space station,” he said. “We definitely expect to see astronauts with different identities on the Chinese space station.”
China carried out its first manned space mission in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to put a man into space using its own resources.
(With the participation of the agency)
