The Shenzhou-17 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 11.14am on Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced on Wednesday.

The spaceship will carry three astronauts – Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin – to carry out the Shenzhou-17 spaceflight mission.

"It is the crew of astronauts with the youngest average age since the launch of the space station construction mission," the State Council Information Office said in a statement.

Tang Hongbo will be the commander, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA, at a press conference.

Accompanying Tang Hongbo will be Tang Shengjie and Jiang, both in their thirties and each making maiden space voyages.

The crew has an average age of 38, compared with 42 for the crew of Shenzhou-16 when it launched.

The crew will stay in orbit for about six months.

The launch will use a Long March-2F carrier rocket, which will be filled with propellant soon, Lin said.

Shenzhou-17 is the 30th flight mission of China's manned space program, and the 12th manned mission of the program.

After entering orbit, the spaceship will perform a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the front port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

The three astronauts will perform various in-orbit space science and application payload tests and experiments.

They will carry out extravehicular activities, install extravehicular payloads and conduct space station maintenance and other tasks, Lin said.

The Shenzhou-17 astronauts will do extravehicular experimental maintenance for the first time, which is a very challenging task, he added.

The astronauts will also continue to assess the functioning and performance of the space station and test the coordination and compatibility of ground support centres in performing space station operation and management tasks, to further enhance the operating efficiency and fault correction capability of the space station, Lin said. (Xinhua/AFP)
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Last updated: 2023-10-25 HKT 15:01