Photos: China sends three astronauts to space station

Trio will replace a crew that has been on the station for six months.

Last updated: October 26, 2023 | 13:02

Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor and with inputs from Bloomberg and AP

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China has successfully launched a rocket to send a team of three astronauts to the nation's space station. The Shenzhou 17 blasted off at 11:14 a.m. local time, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

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The launch comes shortly after Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program outlined the nation's space goals for the next 15 years, including a mission to send Chinese astronauts to the moon for the first time.

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The trio — (from left) Jiang Xinlin, Tang Hongbo, and Tang Shengjie — will replace a crew that has been on the station for six months. Tang is a veteran who led a 2021 space mission for three months.

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China last launched a crewed rocket to its space station on May 30, when the Shenzhou 16 spaceship sent three astronauts, including veteran Jing Haipeng and scientist Gui Haichao.

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During their time in space, they conducted a spacewalk and held a public lecture for Chinese students. The Shenzhou 16 crew members are scheduled to return to Earth on Oct. 31.

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China’s first manned space mission in 2003 made it the third country after the former Soviet Union and the U.S. to put a person into space using its own resources.

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A Long March rocket carrying a crew of Chinese astronauts in a Shenzhou-17 spaceship lifts off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.

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A Long March-2F carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft and a crew of three astronauts, lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi desert, in northwest China on October 26, 2023.

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