Veteran Chinese astronaut to lead fresh crew to space station

China is set to launch the Shenzhou-20 space mission on Thursday at 5:17 p.m. local time (0917 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

The mission will be led by Chen Dong, a 46-year-old veteran astronaut and former fighter pilot, who became the first Chinese astronaut to spend over 200 days in orbit during a 2022 mission. Joining him will be Chen Zhongrui, a former air force pilot in his early 40s, and Wang Jie, a 35-year-old former space technology engineer — both making their first trip to space.

The three-man crew will take over from the current Tiangong station residents, who are scheduled to return to Earth on April 29 after completing handover procedures.

The Tiangong space station, which hosts rotating crews of three astronauts every six months, stands as the centerpiece of China’s growing space ambitions. China, the third country to independently send humans into orbit, has already achieved robotic landings on the Moon and Mars.

Under President Xi Jinping, the nation is pushing forward with its space program and plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030, including the construction of a lunar base.