JIUQUAN, China (AP) 鈥� launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday night with three astronauts heading to its space station, including one set to stay in space for a year.
The spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The much-anticipated launch comes as China prepares for its first crewed .
The astronauts on the mission are Zhu Yangzhu, the commander, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, also identified by Chinese authorities as Li Jiaying using the Mandarin transliteration of her name.
Lai, who was born and raised in Hong Kong and has a doctoral degree in computer forensics, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission.
The crew is set to conduct dozens of science and application projects, state media said. They are also expected to complete an in-orbit rotation with the crew of Shenzhou 21, who has been at the Tiangong space station for more than 200 days.
One of the three astronauts on the Shenzhou 23 mission is scheduled to stay at the orbiting space station for a year in what would be among the world鈥檚 longest single stays in space. The astronaut’s mission is to 鈥渆xplore human adaptability and performance limits鈥� in long-duration spaceflight environments, state media reported.
As China steps up its space program, its astronauts have carried out multiple missions to the Tiangong space station, developed after China was effectively excluded from the International Space Station on U.S. concerns over national security.
The U.S. is seen as China鈥檚 top space rival, with on the lunar surface in 2028.
China鈥檚 space station Tiangong, which translates to 鈥淗eavenly Palace,鈥� first hosted the country’s crew in 2021. Last year, an emergency mission in the Shenzhou program, which means 鈥淒ivine Vessel,鈥� due to a damaged spacecraft.
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Associated Press video journalist Wu Jia in Jiuquan, China contributed to this report.
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