China has launched its latest human spaceflight mission, Shenzhou 20, to the Tiangong space station. The spacecraft lifted off at 5:17 a.m. ET on Thursday morning (April 24) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
Commander Chen Dong, who has flown on two previous missions, will be joined by rookie astronauts Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie for a six-month-long mission aboard the space station. The crew will replace the current Shenzhou 19 astronauts, led by commander Cai Xuzhe, who will depart for Earth in their own spacecraft.
Chen Dong has extensive experience in spaceflight, having flown on China’s Tiangong 2 space lab in 2016 and leading the Shenzhou 14 mission to Tiangong in 2022. Chen Zhongrui was a pilot in the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, while Wang Jie is an aerospace engineer with China’s main space contractor.
The crew will undertake various scientific experiments and maintain the space station during their six-month stay. China plans to keep the Tiangong space station permanently inhabited for at least a decade, with plans to expand it with new modules and open it up to commercial activities.
This marks the ninth crewed mission headed for Tiangong and the sixth visit since the three-module orbital outpost was fully assembled in October 2022. The mission is part of China’s application and development stage of its space station program.
Source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/watch-live-as-china-launches-shenzhou-20-astronauts-to-tiangong-space-station-on-april-24