Successful Launch Spurs China Toward Crucial First for Moon Landing

China launched the crewed Shenzhou-23 mission on a Long March 2-F rocket from Jiuquan, and it docked with the Tiangong space station about 3.5 hours later.

The three-person crew includes China’s first astronaut from Hong Kong, marking a milestone for the country’s space program.

The mission will support science experiments and a planned year-long stay in orbit to study the effects of long-duration microgravity on the human body.

The flight gives China experience for future crewed deep-space missions, including its goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by 2030.