The Shenzhou-23 manned mission launches from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China on Sunday, May 24, 2026. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

China successfully launched another spacecraft Sunday that is set to carry three astronauts to its space station. One crew member aboard the Shenzhou 23 is expected to remain in space for one year, which would be among the world's longest single stays in space.

The spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. Li Benqi, an official at the center, called the launch "a complete success" in videotaped remarks published by Chinese state media.

The much-anticipated launch comes as China prepares for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030.

The astronauts on the mission are Zhu Yangzhu, the commander, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, also identified by Chinese authorities as Li Jiaying using the Mandarin transliteration of her name.

Lai, who was born and raised in Hong Kong and has a doctoral degree in computer forensics, is the first astronaut from the city on a space mission. She's also the country's fourth female astronaut to travel to space, according to Chinese state media.

The crew is set to conduct dozens of science and application projects, state media said. They are also expected to complete an in-orbit rotation with the crew of Shenzhou 21, who has been at the Tiangong space station for more than 200 days.

Launching in late October, the three-person crew of Shenzhou 21 included China's youngest astronaut. Four mice were on board with them, marking the first live mammals on a space mission since Beijing launched its program.

One of the three astronauts on the Shenzhou 23 mission is scheduled to stay at the orbiting space station for a year The astronaut's mission is to "explore human adaptability and performance limits" in long-duration spaceflight environments, state media reported.

As China steps up its space program, its astronauts have carried out multiple missions to the Tiangong space station, developed after China was effectively excluded from the International Space Station on U.S. concerns over national security.

The U.S. is seen as China's top space rival, with NASA aiming to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.

China's space station Tiangong, which translates to "Heavenly Palace," first hosted the country's crew in 2021. Last year, an emergency mission in the Shenzhou program, which means "Divine Vessel," returned a team of astronauts stranded on the space station due to a damaged spacecraft.

Before that, group of Chinese astronauts faced a nine-day delay as they attempted to return to Earth, after the window of their spacecraft was damaged. They did ultimately return on the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft, once its crew arrived at the space station. China's space program determined that the damaged spacecraft, Shenzhou 20, did not meet the safety standards necessary to carry astronauts.

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