China launches Shenzhou-23 spaceship

• China successfully launched the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship on May 24.

• The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

• Three astronauts reached Tiangong space station for new tests on long-duration stay and frontier scientific experiments.

• Shenzhou-23 is the seventh crewed mission during the application and development stage of China's space station, and the 40th flight mission of China’s manned space program.

• The astronauts from the Shenzhou-23 crew are set to carry out a one-year in-orbit stay experiment.

• The mission marks the first spaceflight by an astronaut from Hong Kong — Li Jiaying, who previously worked for the Hong Kong police.

• The two other crew members are space engineer Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan, a former air force pilot, who is travelling into space for the first time.

• During the year-long residency, China will implement its first space-based human-body research program to collect crucial data on astronauts exposed to long-duration spaceflight.

• The Shenzhou-23 mission is part of China’s goal to land astronauts on the Moon before 2030, a race in which the United States is also competing with its Artemis programme.

• NASA is seeking to achieve a crewed moon landing in 2028. The US aims to establish a long-term lunar presence as a stepping stone to eventual human exploration of Mars.