Image: China News Service (CC BY 4.0)
Shenzhou 23
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 2026-05-24 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, LA-4/SLS-1, China |
| Launch vehicle | Long March 2F/G (Y23) |
| Spacecraft | Shenzhou 23 |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| Duration | Ongoing — 19 days as of 12 June 2026 (≈6-month rotation; one crew member slated for ~1 year) |
| Partners | China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) |
Overview
Shenzhou 23, the current expedition aboard Tiangong, launched from Jiuquan at 15:08 UTC on 24 May 2026 (23:08 Beijing time) and docked with the Tianhe core module's nadir port about 3.5 hours later. Commander Zhu Yangzhu, the flight engineer of Shenzhou 16 on his second flight, leads first-time flyers Zhang Zhiyuan, a former air force pilot, and payload specialist Li Jiaying — known in Cantonese as Lai Ka-ying — who made history as the first astronaut from Hong Kong. A former Hong Kong Police Force superintendent and computer-forensics specialist with a doctorate from the University of Hong Kong, Li was selected in China's fourth astronaut recruitment in 2024 and is the country's fourth woman in space. The crew took over the station from Shenzhou 21, whose record-setting crew departed on 29 May 2026, and is working through more than 100 new science and application projects spanning space life science, materials research, microgravity fluid physics and aerospace medicine. The mission's headline experiment is human endurance itself: one of the three crew members is slated to remain aboard Tiangong for roughly a year — China's first year-long spaceflight — overlapping with the future Shenzhou 24 rotation. As of 12 June 2026 the expedition remains in orbit.
Crew
Zhu Yangzhu
Commander
Second spaceflight; flew as China's first flight engineer on Shenzhou 16
Zhang Zhiyuan
Pilot
First spaceflight; former air force pilot
Li Jiaying
Payload Specialist
First spaceflight; Hong Kong's first astronaut (Cantonese: Lai Ka-ying), former police superintendent and computer-forensics specialist with a University of Hong Kong doctorate; China's fourth woman in space
Key Milestones
2026-05-24
Launch at 15:08 UTC; ~3.5-hour rapid rendezvous and docking with Tianhe's nadir port at 18:45 UTC
2026-05-24
Li Jiaying (Lai Ka-ying) becomes the first astronaut from Hong Kong to reach space
2026-05-29
Shenzhou 21 crew departs after handover; Shenzhou 23 assumes command of Tiangong
2026-06-12
Mission ongoing — over 100 experiments under way, with one crew member slated for China's first ~year-long stay
Key Achievements
Flew Hong Kong's first astronaut, payload specialist Li Jiaying (Lai Ka-ying), selected in China's 2024 fourth astronaut group
Initiated China's first planned ~year-long crewed spaceflight, with one crew member to remain aboard through the next rotation
Completed another ~3.5-hour rapid rendezvous, docking with Tianhe's nadir port on launch day
Carrying more than 100 new science and application projects in life science, materials, fluid physics and aerospace medicine
Legacy & Significance
Shenzhou 23 widens both the demographic and physiological frontiers of China's human spaceflight program. Flying Hong Kong's first astronaut fulfills the promise of the 2024 selection that opened the corps to the special administrative regions, while the planned year-long stay — China's first — will generate the long-duration medical baseline the country needs for crewed lunar missions targeted before 2030. Its crew-overlap architecture is also expected to enable a short-duration visit by a Pakistani astronaut under the CMSA-SUPARCO agreement, which would make Tiangong host to its first foreign crew member.
Related Missions
Sources
- Xinhua — China launches Shenzhou-23 spaceship, for new in-orbit stay record, cutting-edge space science
- South China Morning Post — Hong Kong's first astronaut Lai Ka-ying lifts off into space on Shenzhou-23 mission
- People's Daily — Profile: Hong Kong's first astronaut Li Jiaying
- NPR — China launches Shenzhou 23 spacecraft with 1 of 3 astronauts set for yearlong stay
