JIUQUAN SATELLITE LAUNCH CENTER, China (AP) — China on Thursday launched a three-member crew to its orbiting space station as part of its ambitious program that aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.
The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of northwest China’s Gobi Desert atop a Long March 2-F rocket at 8:59 p.m. (12:59 GMT ).
The spacecraft’s three-member crew will replace the Shenzhou-17 team, which has crewed China’s Tiangong space station since last October.
The China Human Space Mission Agency, or CMSA, held a farewell ceremony on Thursday – complete with flag-waving children and patriotic music – for the crew of Shenzhou-18, as the three astronauts prepared to enter the spaceship.
The trio is made up of Commander Ye Guangfu, 43, a veteran astronaut who participated in the Shenzhou-13 mission in 2021, and fighter pilots Li Cong, 34, and Li Guangsu, 36, who are flight novices. space.
They are expected to reach the space station about six and a half hours after liftoff.
China built its own space station after being barred from the International Space Station, largely due to U.S. concerns about Chinese military involvement in the program. This year, the Chinese station is expected to carry out two cargo spacecraft missions and two human spaceflight missions.
The Shenzhou-18 crew will spend about six months on the space station. They will conduct scientific tests, install space debris protection equipment on the station, carry out payload experiments and popularize science education, among others, according to Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA.
Lin also said China was ultimately working to providing access to its space station to foreign astronauts and space tourists.
“We will accelerate research and promotion of the participation of foreign astronauts and space tourists in flights aboard the Chinese space station,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The country is planning a mission to bring back samples from Mars around 2030 and three lunar probe missions over the next four years. He also wants to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.
China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to send a person into space using its own resources.
The US space program is believed to still hold a significant advantage over China’s due to its spending, supply chains and capabilities. However, China has broken out in some areas, bringing back samples of the lunar surface for the first time in decades and land a rover on the less explored hidden side of the moon.
The United States aims to return a crew to the lunar surface by the end of 2025 as part of a renewed commitment to crewed missions, with help from private sector players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin.
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Mistreanu reported from Kaohsiung, Taiwan.