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The spacecraft took off from Jiuquan launch centre in northwestern China at 20:59 (Chinese time) and was launched on the Long March 2F rocket.
OnThursday, the Shenzhou 18 manned spacecraft from the People’s Republic of China successfully docked with the Tiangong Space Station, also part of the Beijing space project.
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The spacecraft took off from Jiuquan launch centre in northwestern China at 20:59 (Chinese time) and was launched on the Long March 2F rocket.
In the mission were 3 Chinese cosmonauts in which they are, Ye Guangfu, fighter aircraft pilot who was already a crew member on the Shenzhou-13 mission in 2021. He is joined by Li Cong and Li Guangsu, who travel into space for the first time.
According to the Chinese Space Agency, the astronauts will remain on the Tiangong space station for six months, during which they plan to carry out experiments on various physics-related topics.
The 3 astronauts aboard China's #Shenzhou18 spaceship have entered the country's Tiangong space station and met with the #Shenzhou17 astronaut trio on Friday, to kick off the 4th in-orbit crew rotation as the 6 astronauts will live and work together for about 5 days to complete… pic.twitter.com/Xa7w1Ymo79
— China Science (@ChinaScience) April 26, 2024
The new crew will replace the Shenzhou-17 mission team, which took off into space in October.
The arrival of Shenzhou 18 takes place within the framework of the Chinese Space Agenda, which seeks to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.
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