Launches
China's Shenzhou-20 mission blasts off for Tiangong space station
The latest crew of three astronauts plan to carry out experiments in physics and life sciences and to install protective equipment against space debris.
![A Long March-2F carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft and a crew of three astronauts, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Base in the Gobi desert, China, on April 24. [Pedro Pardo/AFP]](/gc8/images/2025/04/25/50165-chinaspace-370_237.webp)
By BlueShift and AFP |
JIUQUAN, China -- A Chinese rocket carrying three astronauts to the country's Tiangong space station blasted off from its remote launch site Thursday (April 24).
The country has plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030 and eventually build a base on the lunar surface.
The Long March-2F rocket lifted into the air in a plume of flame and smoke at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Base in the desert of northwest China, AFP journalists saw, heralding the start of the six-month Shenzhou-20 mission.
This mission will "lay a firmer technological foundation for a crewed lunar mission and follow-up tasks," Zhou Yaqiang, a top technology official at the China Manned Space Program, said at a news conference Wednesday.
Mission expectations
Leading the newest crew is Chen Dong, 46, a former fighter pilot and veteran space explorer who in 2022 became the first Chinese astronaut to clock up more than 200 cumulative days in orbit.
The other two crew members -- 40-year-old former air force pilot Chen Zhongrui and 35-year-old former space technology engineer Wang Jie -- are embarking on their first space flight.
The crew will carry out experiments in physics and life sciences and installing protective equipment against space debris.
For the first time, they also will bring aboard planarians -- aquatic flatworms known for their regenerative abilities.
The team will also conduct spacewalks, replenish supplies and carry out general maintenance on the space station.
Three astronauts aboard Tiangong are scheduled to return to Earth on April 29 after completing handover procedures, Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), told the news conference.
Crewed by rotating teams of three astronauts every six months, Tiangong -- whose name means "celestial palace" in Chinese -- orbits between 340km and 450km above Earth.
Beijing plans to keep Tiangong permanently inhabited for at least a decade.
Shenzhou-20 is the ninth crewed mission headed for the space station, which is about 20% as massive as the International Space Station. It is the sixth visit since the three-module orbital outpost was fully assembled in October 2022.