LAUNCH OF CHINA’S SHENZHOU-23 CREW TO TIANGONG, May 24, 2026, Jiuquan, China, 11:08 am EDT

China will launch its next crew to the Tiangong space station on May 24, 2026 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 11:08 pm Beijing Time, which is 11:08 am Eastern Daylight Time.

The crew includes the first taikonaut from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a woman, Li Jiaying or Lai Ka-ying in Cantonese. She worked in the Hong Kong police force before joining the fourth class of taikonauts. She’s a payload specialist on this flight.

The commander of the mission is Zhu Yangzhu. This is his second spaceflight having served as flight engineer on Shenzhou-16.

Zhang Zhiyuan is on his first spaceflight. A former Air Force pilot, he was selected into the third group of taikonauts.

One of the three will remain on the space station for one-year. The decision on who will be determined on how the emission unfolds according to Xinhua.

China usually provides live coverage of human spaceflight launches on CGTN.