Saed News: China has sent a new crew to its space station in Earth orbit.
According to SAEDNEWS, citing Space, this mission allows three astronauts who had stayed in orbit one month longer than planned to return to Earth. One member of the new crew will remain on the Chinese space station for one year.
For this mission, a 62-meter Long March 2F rocket launched the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 15:08 GMT on Sunday.
During the Shenzhou-23 mission, three astronauts—commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Caixing—were sent to China’s Tiangong space station. Lai is the first astronaut from Hong Kong to go to space.
This mission also marks a historic milestone for China, as one crew member will stay in space for a full year due to the delayed schedule of the upcoming Shenzhou-24 mission, which is expected to include a short visit by a Pakistani astronaut.
Although the first international visitor to Tiangong will arrive on Shenzhou-24, they will later return to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-23 capsule, while one of its original crew members remains in orbit for a year.
