Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] China launched the Shenzhou-23 manned spacecraft to the Tiangong National Space Station. The China Manned Space Administration (CMSA) announced this on May 24.
China launched the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft with three taikonauts.
The launch took place at 23:08 Beijing time (18:08 Moscow time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
There are three taikonauts on board the spacecraft. The crew commander is 39-year-old Zhu Yanzhu. He is the first Chinese flight engineer to lead a spacecraft crew. This is his second mission on Tiangong. In 2023, he spent five months on the station as part of the Shenzhou-16 crew.
The crew also included pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Li Jiaying. She became the first of China's fourth astronaut team to fly to Tiangong.
According to the CMSA, after entering orbit, the spacecraft successfully approached and docked with the space station. It is also noted that one of the Shenzhou-23 crew members will conduct an experiment involving a year-long stay at the station. Currently, the standard mission duration at the Chinese orbital station is approximately six months.