Shenzhou 23 Lifts Off Today; NASA Expands SpaceX Crew Missions

The Daily Broadcast: Shenzhou 23 Lifts Off Today; NASA Expands SpaceX Crew Missions

Shenzhou 23 Lifts Off Today with Hong Kong’s First Astronaut

Shenzhou 23 is scheduled to launch this afternoon at 15:08 UTC from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia, carrying three crew members to China’s Tiangong space station. The Chang Zheng 2F rocket will deliver mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, pilot Zhang Zhiyuan, and payload specialist Li Jiaying to rendezvous with the station several hours after launch.

3 The Chinese space station Tiangong, permanently occupied since June 5, 2022, is set to receive a new set of crew members. Shenzhou 23 is scheduled to launch atop a Chang Zheng 2F (CZ-2F) from Site 91 at the Jiuquan… | Source: NASASpaceFlight

The mission is significant for several firsts. Li Jiaying is the first Chinese astronaut from Hong Kong to fly to orbit, representing China’s expanded taikonaut selection process that now includes residents of Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions. Zhu, 39, is a veteran of the Shenzhou 16 mission with nearly 154 days in space to his credit and extravehicular activity experience. Zhang, also 39, will fly to orbit for the first time.

Crew rotation follows an unusual pattern: two crew members will stay aboard Tiangong for a roughly six-month tour of duty, while the third will remain on the station for approximately one year—a milestone that would set a new Chinese space endurance record. The taikonaut selected for the extended mission will be chosen later based on health assessments and will return aboard Shenzhou 24, scheduled for October.

The Shenzhou 23 crew will conduct experiments in human health and stem cell research, work with zebrafish and mouse embryos, test experimental lunar fibres, and install a greenhouse gas monitor on the exterior of the station. This is the second Chang Zheng 2F launch of 2026 and the third orbital crewed flight of the year globally, following NASA’s Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station and the Artemis II lunar flyby.

NASA Extends SpaceX Commercial Crew Contract Through ISS Retirement

NASA announced plans to add six additional post-certification missions to SpaceX’s commercial crew contract on a sole-source basis, according to a May 18 procurement filing. The extension addresses growing concerns about Boeing’s persistent delays in certifying its CST-100 Starliner for crewed flights to the International Space Station.

Currently, the Crew-12 mission is at the ISS, and SpaceX’s contract extends through Crew-14. The six new missions would add coverage through late 2030, aligning with the ISS’s planned retirement date. NASA stated the rationale plainly: “It is necessary to award additional PCMs to SpaceX given the recently shortened ISS mission durations, technical issues and schedule delays encountered by Boeing, the allocation of missions between Boeing and SpaceX, NASA’s projections for when an alternative CTS may become available, and the ongoing technical challenges of maintaining a reliable CTS capability for crewed flights to ISS.”

A 2022 contract modification had already added five missions for $1.4 billion; this new extension represents NASA’s hedge against prolonged delays. Boeing’s contract was reduced in November 2024 from six missions to four, and the next Starliner cargo flight—Starliner-1—was absent from NASA’s latest manifest, signalling continued certification challenges.

The extension also reflects NASA’s decision to retain six-month crew rotation missions rather than extending them to eight months. By maintaining the six-month schedule, NASA maximizes utilization of the station in its final years. For Canadian space operations, sustained and reliable crew access to the ISS remains central to Canada’s role in the partnership—both for Canadian astronauts flying on Crew Dragon rotations and for Canadian science payloads and technology such as the Canadarm supporting station operations.