China launches rocket to send astronaut on year-long space mission as it eyes 2030 moon landing

China successfully launched the Shenzhou-23 mission on May 24 from the Jiuquan launch center in the Gobi Desert, sending three astronauts—commander Zhu Yangzhu, pilot Zhang Yuanzhi, and payload specialist Li Jiaying, the first from Hong Kong—to the Tiangong space station. The Long March 2-F rocket carried the crew into orbit, with the China Manned Space Agency confirming a successful launch and good condition of the astronauts. One of the three will remain on Tiangong for a year, the longest Chinese space mission to date, though short of the 1995 Russian record of 14.5 months. The mission is a critical test for China’s 2030 goal of landing astronauts on the moon, requiring new hardware like the Long March-10 rocket, Mengzhou spacecraft, and Lanyue lunar lander. Shenzhou-23 will also perform the first autonomous rapid docking with Tiangong, a precursor to automated lunar-orbit rendezvous. China has already recovered lunar samples from the moon’s far side in 2024 and plans a permanent lunar base with Russia by 2035. This launch comes amid a US-China space race, with NASA targeting a 2028 crewed moon landing under Artemis and recent SpaceX Starship tests for future lunar missions. China denies US claims of lunar colonization plans and has accelerated space station missions, including training Pakistani astronauts for future Tiangong flights. The previous Shenzhou-22 mission was cut short after space debris damaged the Shenzhou-20 vessel. China’s lunar program chief scientist, Wu Weiren, stated the 2030 timeline is intentionally conservative, following ongoing safety tests of mission-critical hardware. The country has sent astronauts to Tiangong for six-month stays since 2021, demonstrating growing capabilities despite relying solely on robotic moon missions to date. A successful crewed landing would solidify China’s position as a major spacefaring nation.