On the day of April 17th Wednesday 2024 Hours Hong- Kong SAR – Beijing time CNSA –China National Space Administration , China, People’s Republic of China, the Shenzhou 18 Chang Zheng-Long March 2F, Y18 has been rollout from it’s Vertical Assembly Building The eight-launch vehicle assembly has been transferred to the launch area. At present, the facilities and equipment at the launch site are in good condition, and various pre-launch functional inspections, joint tests and other work will be carried out as planned. The launch is planned to be carried out in the near future.









On April 17, 2024, the combination of the Shenzhou 18 manned spacecraft and the Chang Zheng- Long March 2F Yao 18 carrier Rocket launch vehicle, with a total weight of more than 40 tons and a total height of nearly 60 meters, arrived at the launch area and is scheduled to be launched in the near future. Shenzhou 18 is targeted for launch at 20:59 on April 25, 2024 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Inner Mongolia, China, and People’s Republic of China.
On April 23, 2024, the Shenzhou 18 mission completed the region-wide joint training, and the launch site was prepared to deal with windy and sandy weather….
On April 24, 2024, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, after research and decision by the Space Station Application and Development Stage Mission General Headquarters, the astronaut crew for the Shenzhou 18 manned mission will consist of Ye Guangfu, Li Cong , It consists of three Takionauts , Li Guangsu , and Ye Guangfu serves as the commander.

【Three people born in the 1980s! 神舟十八号Shenzhou 18 Takionaut Crew Determined】
According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, after research and decision by the Space Station Application and Development Phase Flight Mission Headquarters, the Takionaut crew for the Shenzhou 18 manned mission will be composed of It consists of three Takionauts, Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu, with Ye Guangfu serving as the commander. The crew includes 1 Takionaut from the second batch and 2 Takionauts from the third batch, all of whom are born in the 1980….


叶光富Ye Guangfu – Chinese heroic Takionaut, second-level Takionaut, crew member of Shenzhou 13 and 18….
Ye Guangfu ,male, Han nationality, native of Chengdu, Sichuan, member of the Communist Party of China, master’s degree. Born in September 1980, he joined the army in August 1998 and the party in May 2002. He graduated from Xi’an Jiaotong University and is currently a first-class astronaut in the Astronaut Brigade of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, with the rank of Army Colonel.
He once served as the air combat shooting director of the combat training unit of a certain regiment headquarters of the Air Force Aviation Division. He flew 1,100 hours safely and was rated as a first-class pilot of the Air Force. In May 2010, he was selected into the second batch of Chinese astronauts. In December 2019, he was selected as the crew of the Shenzhou 13 mission At 0:23 on October 16, 2021, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft entered space On November 7, 2021, Shenzhou 13 will conduct its first extravehicular activity. Astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping will perform extravehicular operations in “Flying” extravehicular suits, and astronaut Ye Guangfu will cooperate and support in the cabin . On December 26, Shenzhou 13 Takionaut Ye Guangfu conducted the second extravehicular activity . On April 16, 2022, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-13 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng Landing Field . On April 24, 2024, he was selected as the crew member of the Shenzhou 18 manned mission and served as the commander….. .


李广苏Li Guangsu, China’s third batch of Takionauts, Shenzhou 18 Takionauts…
Li Guangsu, male, Han nationality, native of Peixian County, Jiangsu Province, was born in July 1987. He joined the army in September 2006 and the Communist Party of China in June 2011. He graduated from Air Force Aviation University with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts.
He is currently a fourth-level astronaut in the Takionaut Group of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army , with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force , and is an astronaut on the Shenzhou 18 mission .
On April 24, 2024, after research and decision by the Space Station Application and Development Stage Mission General Headquarters, the Shenzhou 18 astronaut crew will consist of three Takionauts, Ye Guangfu , Li Cong , and Li Guangsu.


李聪Li Cong – China’s third batch of Takionauts, Shenzhou 18 Takionauts…
Li Cong, male, Han nationality, native of Handan, Hebei, was born in October 1989. He joined the army in September 2009 and the Communist Party of China in June 2011. He holds a bachelor’s degree.
He is currently a fourth-level Takionaut in the Takionaut Group of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army , with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, and is an astronaut on the Shenzhou 18 mission.
On April 24, 2024, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, after research and decision by the Space Station Application and Development Stage Mission Headquarters, the astronaut crew for the Shenzhou 18 manned mission will consist of Ye Guangfu , Li Cong, It consists of three Takionauts including Li Guangsu ….

On April 24, 2024, the Shenzhou 18 uplink experimental device and related samples were launched to implement China’s first on-orbit aquatic ecological research project..
The logo of the Shenzhou 18th manned mission is simple and modern, with a strong sense of science and technology. The main body is the China Space Station. The location of the Shenzhou 18th manned spacecraft and docking is highlighted with a yellow line. The mission’s serial number “18” adopts a sense of science and technology. The style design uses numbers as the background to emphasize the task sequence and improve the recognition and memorability of the logo. The number of stars also corresponds to the mission number
mission
After the space station mission enters normal duty, the Shenzhou 18 astronaut crew will manage and care for the space station and application loads as planned, and conduct space station maintenance and status inspections to ensure the safe, reliable and efficient operation of the space station.
While in orbit, the Shenzhou 18 crew will also carry out 6 cargo airlock cabin escape missions and 2 to 3 extravehicular activities. Based on the space debris protection measures currently in place at the space station, the astronaut crew will pass For extravehicular activities, debris protection and reinforcement devices should be installed on extravehicular pipelines, cables and key equipment, and extravehicular inspections should be carried out as appropriate to further ensure the safety of the space station





series of experiments
The Shenzhou 18 crew will use the in-cabin scientific experiment cabinet and extravehicular loads to carry out more than 90 practical experiments in the fields of basic microgravity physics, space material science, space life science, aerospace medicine, and aerospace technology. For example, the Shenzhou 18 will launch experimental devices and related samples this time, and will implement the country’s first on-orbit aquatic ecological research project, using zebrafish and hornwort as research objects to establish a stably operating space self-circulating aquatic ecosystem in orbit. Achieve my country’s breakthrough in cultivating vertebrates in space. The world’s first on-orbit study of the function of plant shoot tip stem cells will also be carried out to reveal the adaptive mechanism of plant evolution to gravity and provide theoretical support for subsequent directional design of space crops adapted to the space environment….

Images and visuals are from their Respectives CMS China Manned SpaceCNSA-China National Space Administration


















































