China’s Shenzhou 17 Manned Space Flight Set for Launch Tomorrow at 11:14

According to the announcement from the China Manned Space Engineering Office, Shenzhou-17 is scheduled to launch at 11:14 am on October 26th.

The astronaut crew for this mission consists of Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, and Jiang Xinlin. Tang Hongbo serves as the commander.

The Shenzhou 17 manned spaceflight mission is the 30th flight mission since the initiation of the manned space program, and also the 12th manned flight mission.

The primary objectives of this mission are: first, to complete the on-orbit crew rotation with Shenzhou-16, stay in orbit for about six months, carry out on-orbit trials of space science and application payloads, implement astronaut extravehicular activities and payload ejections, and perform tasks such as installing extravehicular payloads and maintaining and repairing the space station; scond, at the same time, to continuously assess the functionality and performance of the space station complex, gain and accumulate valuable data and experience from the operation of the space station, assess the coordination and compatibility of the ground support center in executing the space station operation management tasks, and further enhance the efficiency of space station operation and fault handling capabilities.

During the on-orbit stay of the Shenzhou-17 manned spacecraft, it will welcome the docking visits of the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft and the Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft, and it is planned to return to the Dongfeng landing site around April, 2024.

SEE ALSO: Shenzhou-16 Spacecraft Successfully Completes Five Autonomous Orbit Changes, Approaching Chinese Space Station