China set to launch new crewed space mission

China is set to launch a new crewed space mission in the coming days to transport three astronauts to the Tiangong space station, the China Manned Space Agency said on Saturday.

The Shenzhou-23 spacecraft and its carrier — a Long March 2F rocket — were moved to the service tower at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China’s Gobi Desert on Saturday, the agency said in a brief statement.

It added that the Shenzhou-23 crew vessel and rocket will go through final functional checks in the coming days and that the launch will take place soon.

The Shenzhou-23 crew will carry out China’s 17th manned spaceflight and will become the 11th group of inhabitants of the Tiangong, which is currently the only operating space station independently run by a single nation, China Daily reported.

Tiangong, China’s space station, is made up of three modules that were completed between 2021 and 2022.

It is now manned by the Shenzhou-21 astronauts (Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang), who are continuing their mission.