Shenzhou-23 Crew Spacecraft Docking | China Space Station
China's Shenzhou-23 crewed spacecraft successfully docked with the Tiangong Space Station on the early morning of May 25, 2026, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The spacecraft, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) in northwest China at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT) on Sunday.
About ten minutes after the launch, the spacecraft separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit.
The Shenzhou-23 spacecraft later successfully docked with the radial port of the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong Space Station at 02:45, with the docking process taking about 3.5 hours.
The Shenzhou-23 crew consists of commander Zhu Yangzhu and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Li Jiaying, the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, also known as Lai Ka-ying in Cantonese.
They later entered the Tianhe core module of the space station to assume duties from the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-21 mission that are already aboard the space station.
Notably, one of the Shenzhou-23 crew members is set to undertake a year-long stay aboard the space station, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.
Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's crewed spaceflight program and the seventh crewed flight mission since the Tiangong Space Station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.
Zhu Yangzhu 朱杨柱, Commander & Flight Engineer (second spaceflight)
Zhang Zhiyuan 张志远, Pilot (first spaceflight)
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