The Shenzhou-23 mission is scheduled to lift off at 11:08 pm (1508 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The crew includes Lai Ka-ying, who is being hailed as Hong Kong’s first astronaut, alongside Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan.
Flight engineer Zhu Yangzhu will serve as mission commander, having previously participated in the Shenzhou-16 mission in 2023.
The astronauts will travel to the Tiangong space station, which is a key part of China’s human spaceflight programme and operates with rotating crews every six months.
One of the astronauts is expected to remain in orbit for a year as part of a long-duration residency experiment aimed at studying human health and performance in space. Officials said the mission will also involve scientific experiments, spacewalk activities, and cargo operations.
Zhu said the mission will test physical endurance, coordination, and emergency response capabilities, adding that the crew’s priority is to complete the mission with “zero mistakes and zero errors.”
China’s space station programme is a central pillar of its broader “space dream,” with Beijing aiming to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030 and eventually build a lunar base.
Analysts say longer missions like this are designed to strengthen China’s operational experience in space as it moves toward sustained human presence in orbit and future deep-space exploration.
