Image: China News Service (CC BY 4.0)
Shenzhou 16
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 2023-05-30 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, LA-4/SLS-1, China |
| Launch vehicle | Long March 2F/G (Y16) |
| Spacecraft | Shenzhou 16 |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 2023-10-31 |
| Recovery | Dongfeng landing site, Inner Mongolia, China |
| Duration | 153 days, 22 hours, 40 minutes |
| Partners | China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) |
Overview
Shenzhou 16 redefined who could fly for China. Launching from Jiuquan at 01:31 UTC on 30 May 2023, it carried the first crew drawn from all three of China's astronaut career tracks: commander Jing Haipeng, making a record fourth spaceflight; Zhu Yangzhu, the first of the new flight-engineer class to reach orbit; and Gui Haichao, a Beihang University professor who became China's first civilian astronaut, flying as payload specialist. The trio docked with Tiangong about 6.5 hours after liftoff and took over the completed station from Shenzhou 15. On 20 July 2023, Jing and Zhu conducted a spacewalk of roughly eight hours — then the longest in Chinese EVA history — to install and adjust external camera equipment, with Zhu becoming the first Chinese flight engineer to walk in space. The crew ran extensive microgravity research across Tiangong's two laboratory modules and delivered a Tiangong Classroom lecture on 21 September. After handing over to Shenzhou 17 in late October, the departing crew performed a flyaround and captured the first complete high-definition portraits of the finished Tiangong station against Earth. They landed at Dongfeng at 00:11 UTC on 31 October 2023 after roughly 154 days in orbit.
Crew
Jing Haipeng
Commander
Record fourth spaceflight for a Chinese astronaut, after Shenzhou 7, 9 and 11
Zhu Yangzhu
Flight Engineer
First spaceflight; first of China's flight-engineer class to fly and first to perform an EVA; later commanded Shenzhou 23
Gui Haichao
Payload Specialist
First spaceflight; Beihang University professor — China's first civilian astronaut and first payload specialist
Key Milestones
2023-05-30
Launch at 01:31 UTC; docking with Tiangong about 6.5 hours later
2023-07-20
Roughly eight-hour EVA by Jing Haipeng and Zhu Yangzhu — then China's longest spacewalk
2023-09-21
Tiangong Classroom science lecture broadcast from the Mengtian lab module
2023-10-26
Shenzhou 17 arrives; in-orbit handover of the station
2023-10-30
Undocking and flyaround — first full high-definition imagery of the completed Tiangong station
2023-10-31
Landing at Dongfeng at 00:11 UTC after about 154 days in orbit
Key Achievements
Flew China's first civilian astronaut, payload specialist Gui Haichao of Beihang University
Jing Haipeng became the first Chinese astronaut to fly four space missions
First mission crewed by all three Chinese astronaut categories: pilot, flight engineer and payload specialist
Roughly eight-hour spacewalk on 20 July 2023 — the longest Chinese EVA at the time
Captured the first complete high-definition portrait of the finished Tiangong station during departure flyaround
Legacy & Significance
Shenzhou 16 marked Tiangong's pivot from construction to utilization — and the professionalization of China's astronaut corps beyond military test pilots. By flying a university professor and a dedicated flight engineer, it opened the corps to scientists and engineers, a model extended in later selections to candidates from Hong Kong and Macau. Its iconic flyaround photograph of the completed station became the defining public image of the Chinese space-station era.
