China will send a new crew to the Tiangong space station

China will send a new crew to its space station Tiangongin the latest mission of a program that aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030, the China Manned Space Agency announced Wednesday.

The Shenzhou-18 mission, with three astronauts, must take off at 8:59 p.m. on Thursday (12:59 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, in northwest China, the agency indicated.

It will be headed by Ye Guangfu, a fighter pilot and astronaut who joined the Shenzhou-13 crew in 2021.

Astronauts Li Cong and Li Guangsu will accompany him on their first space mission.

Commander Ye declared Wednesday that the new mission is a “new beginning.”

“My two colleagues and I are fully prepared to face this challenge. “We are full of confidence in completing this mission,” he stated.

For his part, Li Guangsu commented that he wants to “take a good look at the beautiful blue planet, the splendid mountains and rivers of the motherland and find the places that have nourished me along the way,” he expressed.

“I also want to see, for my beautiful son, whether the stars in the sky really twinkle or not,” she added.

The astronauts will remain in orbit for six months, conducting gravity and physics experiments, as well as biological sciences.

They will also develop a “high-resolution global greenhouse gas detection project,” the deputy director general of the Manned Space Agency, Lin Xiqiang, said at a press conference.

“All preparations are progressing as scheduled,” he added.

The Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace,” is the crown jewel of China’s space program, which has also sent robot explorers to Mars and the Moon, and made China the third country to send humans into orbit.

The station is constantly manned by teams of three astronauts.

The new group will replace the Shenzhou-17 team, which arrived at the station in October.

The Tiangong must remain in low Earth orbit for at least 10 years, between 400 and 450 kilometers above the planet.

Under President Xi Jinping, China has pumped billions of dollars into its military-controlled space program as it seeks to catch up with the United States and Russia.

Beijing also aims to send a manned mission to the Moon by 2030, and hopes to build a base on the lunar surface.