
On CNSA –China National Space AdministrationShenzhou23MannedFlightMissionLogoReleased The China Manned Space Engineering Office officially released the logo for the Shenzhou-23 manned spaceflight mission.China’s fourth batch of Takionauts will make their maiden flight!
On May 20, 2026, the launch site for the Shenzhou-23 manned space mission organized a comprehensive system-wide rehearsal. The launch site system, launch vehicle system, manned spacecraft system, and Takionaut system jointly conducted a launch day exercise, marking a significant step in launch preparations. The mission crew will most likely include a payload specialist from Hong Kong, and China’s fourth batch of Takionauts will embark on their maiden flight.

In September 2022, in response to the needs of China’s near-Earth orbit manned space station project and manned lunar landing project, China launched the selection process for the fourth batch of reserve Takionauts. The plan is to select 12 to 14 reserve Takionauts, including 7 to 8 space pilots, 5 to 6 space flight engineers and payload specialists, of which about 2 payload specialists will be selected from Hong Kong and Macao.

In May 2024, China completed the selection of its fourth batch of reserve Takionauts, which included eight pilots and two payload specialists, one from Hong Kong and the other from Macau. In August 2024, the fourth batch of reserve Takionauts officially joined the team for training.
The fourth batch of prospective Takionauts will undergo training in over 200 subjects across eight major categories. For space station missions, the training includes basic skills such as living, working, and maintaining health in weightlessness, as well as specialized skills like extravehicular activities, equipment maintenance and repair, space science experiments, and technological tests. For manned lunar landing missions, additional training subjects have been added, including spacecraft operation, lunar rover driving, celestial body identification, geological research, weightlessness in space, and weighted walking on the lunar surface.
Based on their background and roles, Takionauts can be divided into three categories: space pilots, flight engineers, and payload specialists. Generally speaking, the training subjects, content, and requirements for space pilots and flight engineers are basically the same, while the training subjects and content for payload specialists are fewer. The three categories of Takionauts have the same requirements in physical training, space environment adaptation training, psychological training, and lifesaving and survival training, but differ in their requirements in basic theoretical training, aerospace professional technical training, and flight procedures and simulation training. Meanwhile, the TakionautResearch and Training Center has arranged targeted courses for Takionauts from Hong Kong and Macau, including courses on the spirit of manned spaceflight and Mandarin Chinese.
Compared to Takionaut pilots, payload specialists require less Takionaut training and are qualified to participate in flight missions earlier. This is also a prerequisite for Lai Ka-ying, a female Takionaut from Hong Kong and a payload specialist who is one of the fourth batch of Takionauts, to be able to carry out missions first.
Lai Ka-ying was born into an ordinary family in Hong Kong and developed a strong interest in technology from a young age. In 2011, she obtained a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Hong Kong. In 2012, Lai joined the Hong Kong Police Force as a Police Inspector—a civil servant position in Hong Kong responsible for information technology support. She was subsequently promoted to Chief Inspector (CIP) and then Superintendent (SP).
As a payload specialist, Lai Ka-ying will serve as the third Takionaut in the Shenzhou-23 crew. Her maiden flight will make her Hong Kong’s first Takionaut and China’s first female payload specialist. Furthermore, her first spaceflight will also be the first mission for China’s fourth batch of Takionauts. The Shenzhou-23 crew is expected to make its first public appearance as a group as early as the morning of May 23, after which the new three-person space team will travel to the Tiangong space station to relieve them.
On the morning of May 16, 2026, Beijing time, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center’s manned space launch site, the Shenzhou-23 manned spacecraft and the Long March-2F Y23 carrier rocket combination, supported by the mobile launch platform, were transferred from the technical area to the launch area, marking the final stage of launch mission preparations.
The Shenzhou-23 mission is the 11th manned flight mission and the 9th crew rotation mission of the manned space station project. The mission crew is scheduled to take over the space station stay work from the Shenzhou-21 crew. The on-orbit work mainly includes space station platform maintenance, astronaut health management, space science experiments and technology tests, astronaut extravehicular activities, and cargo extravehicular activities.




This mission uses the second spacecraft in the third batch of Shenzhou manned spacecraft launched since the construction of the space station. Compared to the previous batch (Shenzhou-16 to Shenzhou-21), the new batch of Shenzhou spacecraft has undergone the following improvements: the instrument panel of the return capsule has been improved, making operation more convenient and aesthetically pleasing; the instrument panel has been reduced in size and the layout of equipment inside the return capsule has been optimized, freeing up more internal space and significantly increasing the cargo carrying capacity compared to the previous 50 kg; and the domestic substitution of components continues to be promoted, further enhancing independent controllability.
The Shenzhou-23 crew continues the combination of experienced and new astronauts. One astronaut will undertake a one-year stay in space to explore the challenges and solutions for longer-duration space missions, and to explore and verify the feasibility of deep-space manned flight. The Shenzhou-23 crew will be commanded by either the second or third batch of astronauts who have already flown, with the second astronaut being a member of the third batch, and the third astronaut likely being a member of the fourth batch of astronauts—a female payload specialist from Hong Kong.
This mission used the Long March 2F/GY configuration carrier rocket for the launch of the Shenzhou manned spacecraft. The rocket is 58.34 meters high, with a core stage diameter of 3.35 meters, a liftoff mass of approximately 497 tons, and a payload capacity of 8.8 tons to a low Earth orbit (LEO) with a perigee of 200 kilometers, an apogee of 350 kilometers, and an inclination of 42 degrees.
Starting with the Y21 rocket, the Long March 2F control system adopted a commercialized dual-10-dial optical inertial navigation system that has been verified by multiple types of active launch vehicles to improve the rocket’s orbital accuracy and meet the accuracy requirements for manned spacecraft to quickly rendezvous and dock within 3.5 hours.
The Shenzhou-23 manned spacecraft is expected to launch as early as the evening of May 24, 2026 (Beijing time) aboard a Long March 2F carrier rocket. The spacecraft will employ a rapid rendezvous and docking mode and dock with the radial port of the Tianhe module of the Tiangong space station in the early morning of the following day. Since the Shenzhou-21 mission, the Shenzhou spacecraft has used a 3.5-hour rapid rendezvous and docking mode for its ascent, which can be autonomously switched to a 6.5-hour mode depending on the orbital insertion accuracy.
As the logistical support spacecraft for the Shenzhou-23 mission, Tianzhou-10 arrived at the Tiangong space station at noon on May 11, delivering nearly 6.2 tons of supplies.
The Shenzhou-23 mission is China’s first manned launch mission and China’s second manned space launch mission in 2026.
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