24 May 2026 year Fr. 15:08 (UTC) from Jiuquan Space Center, China using a launch vehicle «Long March 2F/G» a spaceship was launched «Shenzhou 23».
«Shenzhou 23» will be the 23rd flight within the "Shenzhou" program. The crew of "Shenzhou-23", like his predecessors, will consist of three taikonauts. Their names and biographies are kept secret for now, but it is known, that one of them will complete a unique task for China — a year-long expedition aboard the Tiangong station. This will be the first case of such a long stay of Chinese astronauts in space and will allow to obtain invaluable data on the effect of microgravity on the human body for a long time. Note, that the Shenzhou-23 crew will be replaced by the Shenzhou-24 mission at the end 2026 year. Taikonaut, who will be at the station for a year, will remain on board to continue his research, while the rest of the crew will return to Earth.
«Long March 2F/G» — it is a Chinese medium-range launch vehicle, created on the basis of Long March 2F and adapted to launch modernized spaceships, including cargo and unmanned missions. It has a two-stage design with an additional aerodynamic fairing, allowing heavier or modified pods to be launched. The rocket is close to the height 62 meters can be put into low Earth orbit up to 8,4 tons of cargo. «Long March 2F/G» is actively used in the framework of the Chinese manned space program, especially for series missions «Shenzhou» to the orbital station "Tiangong".
"Tiangong" — it is a Chinese orbital space station, which has become a permanent platform for scientific research, technological experiments and long-term stay of taikonauts in space. Its construction began in 2021 year with the launch of the Tianhe main module, which was later joined by two scientific laboratory modules — Wentian and Mengtian. The complete configuration is T-shaped and provides life support for a crew of three (with the possibility of a short-term increase to six).
According to the CCS