China to launch Shenzhou 23 crew to Tiangong on Sunday night

China is set to launch three astronauts to its Tiangong space station on Sunday evening in a mission that will include the first astronaut from Hong Kong and could mark the country’s first yearlong human spaceflight. The Shenzhou 23 spacecraft is scheduled to lift off at 11:08 p.m. Beijing time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China aboard a Long March 2F Y23 rocket.

The crew consists of mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, pilot Zhang Zhiyuan, and payload specialist Li Jiaying, a former Hong Kong police inspector. Li, who holds a doctorate in computer science, was selected in 2024 as part of China’s fourth batch of astronauts and will become the fourth Chinese woman to travel to space. Zhu previously served on the Shenzhou 16 mission, while both Li and Zhang are first-time spaceflight participants.

One of the three crew members is expected to remain on the space station for a full year, a duration that would be a record for China’s human spaceflight program and would allow scientists to study the physiological effects of long-term space habitation, including radiation exposure, bone density loss, and psychological stress. The China Manned Space Agency said the...