Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: CMSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

China successfully launched its Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship on May 24 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China atop a Long March-2F Y23 carrier rocket.

A fast, automated rendezvous and docking mode of roughly 3.5 hours after launch permitted the Shenzhou-23 to attach to the radial port of the Tianhe core module.

An upgraded laser radar guided the Shenzhou-23 to flawlessly dock with China’s Tiangong space station.

Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Now safely onboard the station are mission commander Zhu Yangzhu and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is the first astronaut from China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Handover

After completing a handover of the Tiangong space station with the Shenzhou-21 crew — Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang, the Shenzhou-23 astronauts will start their mission.

According to China Central Television (CCTV), one of the new space travelers will conduct a one-year in-orbit stay, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

Image credit: CMSA/CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

The flight of Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China’s manned spaceflight program and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.

Currently, there are 13 people in low Earth orbit: six onboard China’s orbital outpost, seven on the International Space Station.