China to launch new crewed mission into space this week

Shenzhou-20: China sends astronauts to Tiangong space station in latest step towards Moon mission

BEIJING, April 24 — China will send a new team of astronauts to its space station on Thursday as it marches towards its ambition of becoming a space power to rival the dominance of the United States. Beijing has pumped billions of dollars into its space programme in recent years in an effort to achieve what President Xi Jinping describes as the Chinese people’s “space dream”. The world’s second-largest economy has bold plans to send a crewed mis…

Three Chinese spacemen are scheduled to embark today on a half-year mission at Tiangong Space Station. The Shenzhou-20 mission will take off from the Gobi Desert in northwestern China in the afternoon, the Manned Space Administration announced.

China reveals Shenzhou 20 astronaut crew launching to Tiangong space station

China just revealed the three astronauts set to launch aboard Shenzhou 20 to the Tiangong space station on April 24.

Beijing announced Wednesday, April 23rd the imminent launch of the Shenzhou-20 mission, which will send a crew of three astronauts to the Chinese space station Tiangong. They will replace the three Taikonauts present since last October, in a rotation now well oiled. The mission, which may seem to be a simple formality, says much of the ambition and increasing maturity of the Chinese space program.

The most experienced taikonaut has spent more than 200 days in space so far.

China will launch the crewed Shenzhou-20 mission to its space station tomorrow at 5:17 p.m. local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China National Space Administration said on Wednesday.