China to send youngest crew, including nuclear rocket scientist, to space station

Wang Haoze, 34, the only female space flight engineer in China, will be aboard Shenzhou-19 spaceship when it launches early on Wednesday

Reading Time:2 minutes

Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe (centre), Wang Haoze, left, and Song Lingdong will carry out the Shenzhou-19 spaceflight mission that launches from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 2:00pm, 29 Oct 2024Updated: 9:01am, 30 Oct 2024

China is set to launch the Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship in the early hours of Wednesday, sending three astronauts – including a nuclear rocket scientist – to its space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Commander Cai Xuzhe, who took part in the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022, will be joined by Wang Haoze and Song Lingdong – both first-time astronauts born in the 1990s – the agency’s spokesman Lin Xiqiang said on Tuesday.

Wang, 34, is the only female space flight engineer in China, according to the agency. She will become the third Chinese woman to take part in a crewed space flight, after Liu Yang who was in the Shenzhou-9 and 14 crews, and Wang Yaping, of Shenzhou-10 and 13.

Lin told the press conference Wang was a senior engineer at the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. There she designed nuclear-powered rocket engines, according to a paper seen by the South China Morning Post.

Song, also 34, was a former air force pilot before becoming an astronaut. They will be the youngest Chinese astronauts in space.

Shenzhou-19, will lift off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwestern China at 4.27am on Wednesday using Long March-2F carrier rocket. It is expected to return in late April or early May.

Ren Fengjie, an official with the launch centre’s meteorological department, told Xinhua on Monday the launch window was based on weather forecasts and was scheduled to take advantage of low nighttime temperatures at the launch site.