What’s new: China plans to allow foreign astronauts and space tourists to visit its space station, the authorities said Wednesday.
“More new members from different backgrounds will be definitely welcomed to the China Space Station in the near future,” said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), during a press conference.
Lin also announced the identities of the three astronauts that will crew the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft, which is scheduled to begin its journey to the space station on Thursday night Beijing time.
The crew of the Shenzhou-17, who have been on the space station for around half a year, are scheduled to return to Earth on April 30 after completing the handover with the new team.
The background: China launched the first module of the China Space Station, also known as the Tiangong Space Station, in 2021 and added two further modules in 2022.
The China Space station is one of two space stations now orbiting the planet, along with the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS is the product of collaboration between the space agencies of the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe.
In 2011, the U.S. Congress barred NASA from engaging with China, barring the country from getting involved with the ISS.
Last October, the CSMA vowed to include foreign astronauts in the country’s moon-landing mission once necessary conditions are met, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. China plans to realize a manned lunar landing by 2030.
China began training astronauts in 1998 and has trained a total of 39 in three batches, according to Lin.
One of the three astronauts to be aboard Shenzhou-18, Ye Guangfu, comes from the second batch and the other two, Li Cong and Li Guangsu, are from the third batch, the CMSA said in a statement released Wednesday.
Contact reporter Kelly Wang (jingzhewang@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)
