China reveals Shenzhou 20 astronaut crew launching to Tiangong space station

(L-R) Chinese astronauts Wang Jie, Chen Dong and Chen Zhongrui, who will carry out the Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceflight mission, meet the press at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on April 23, 2025 in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. .

China just unveiled the three astronauts set to launch aboard Shenzhou 20 to the Tiangong space station on April 24.

The Shenzhou 20 mission is due to launch on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 5:17 a.m. EDT (0917 GMT; 5:17 p.m. Beijing time) on Thursday, sending the spacecraft on a 6.5-hour journey to the Tiangong space station in low Earth orbit.