China’s Shenzhou-18 spacecraft has successfully lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northeastern China, marking a significant milestone in the country’s space program. On board the spacecraft are mission commander Ye Guangfu, a veteran of the 2021 Shenzhou-13 mission, and crewmates Li Cong and Li Guangsu, who are both former fighter pilots and on their first space flight mission. The trio will embark on a six-month-long stay in orbit, where they will conduct scientific experiments, spacewalks, and routine maintenance and management of the Tiangong space station. According to China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) deputy director Lin Xiqiang, the crew is expected to use zebrafish and hornwort to build a stable “self-circulating aquatic ecosystem” and cultivate vertebrates in orbit, a first for China. During a press conference, Lin also provided an update on China’s crewed lunar program, noting that the building of systems and the timeline were on target to put Chinese astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade. China’s moon landing plan involves two launches of Long March 10 rockets to send three astronauts and the lunar lander into the lunar orbit separately. There, Mengzhou and Lanyue will dock and touch down on the lunar surface. Two astronauts will spend a few hours on the moon, and then lift off to join their colleague in lunar orbit before returning to Earth. Lin said the CMSA was working on choosing the lunar rover crew and lunar surface payloads following its call for proposals from the public – including China’s commercial space sector – last year. Meanwhile, the United States is working to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since the Apollo Programme. Its Artemis III mission, which was previously scheduled to take off in 2025, has officially slipped to September 2026 at the earliest, Nasa said earlier this year. The delay was caused by a number of technical reasons, including SpaceX’s outlook for building the Starship super heavy rocket, which is tasked with transferring US astronauts from the lunar orbit to the moon’s surface, as well as the company’s slower than expected development of the lunar lander. In fact, the Artemis III mission is unlikely to happen before 2027, according to a report released by the US Government Accountability Office in December, which was compiled based on interviews with Nasa officials and industry experts.
Shenzhou-18 Launch Marks China’s Progress in Space Exploration
