China launches 'taikonauts' on year-long Tiangong mission

China has launched three taikonauts to its Tiangong space station, including one crew member set to spend a full year in orbit in one of the longest planned space missions ever attempted.

The Shenzhou 23 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China on Sunday night, carrying a three-person crew to the Tiangong space station. An official at the launch centre described the mission as a complete success. The crew will carry out an in-orbit handover with the Shenzhou 21 team, who have been aboard Tiangong for more than 200 days and are due to return to Earth.

The three astronauts - or taikonauts - are Zhu Yangzhu, the mission commander, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying. It is Lai who is drawing particular attention. Born and raised in Hong Kong and holding a doctorate in computer forensics, she is the first astronaut from the city ever to fly on a space mission, a milestone widely noted in both Hong Kong and mainland China.

A year in orbit

The year-long stay is the other major element of the mission. One of the three crew members is scheduled to remain aboard Tiangong for 12 months, with the stated goal of exploring human adaptability and performance limits in long-duration spaceflight environments.

If completed as planned, it would rank among the world’s longest single stays in space. The record is held by American astronaut Frank Rubio, who spent 371 days aboard the International Space Station in 2022 and 2023. In his case, however, the extended stay was unplanned and caused by damage to his return spacecraft.

China’s year-long mission is different: a deliberate scientific experiment in human endurance beyond Earth.

Preparing for the Moon

The mission comes as China prepares for its first crewed lunar landing, with 2030 set as its target. Travelling to the Moon and back takes months, while sustaining a crew on a future lunar base would require even longer stays in space.

Before that becomes possible, China needs a clearer understanding of how the human body responds to extended weightlessness, radiation and isolation - precisely what the year-long mission is designed to study.

Earlier this month, China also sent artificial embryos to Tiangong aboard the Tianzhou-10 cargo mission, beginning what Chinese researchers describe as the world’s first study of embryo development in microgravity. The Shenzhou 23 mission continues that broader programme of biological and human research.

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China’s growing space ambitions

Tiangong, which translates as “Heavenly Palace”, first hosted Chinese crew members in 2021. The station was developed after China was effectively excluded from the International Space Station on U.S. national security grounds.

What began as a response to exclusion has since become a fully operational space station, regularly crewed and used for a growing range of scientific experiments - from materials science and medicine to the long-duration human research expected to shape the next chapter of space exploration.

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