The China Manned Space Agency said on Saturday that Lai Ka-ying, the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, has been selected as a payload specialist for the Shenzhou-23 spaceflight mission.

Lai's crewmates will be Zhu Yangzhu and Zhang Zhiyuan, with Zhu being the commander, the agency announced at a press conference.

The Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 11.08pm on Sunday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, said spokesman Zhang Jingbo.

Zhu, who was on the Shenzhou-16 space mission, is the flight engineer. Zhang is the spacecraft pilot.

Zhang and Lai come from the third and fourth batches of astronauts, respectively. It will be their first spaceflight mission.

Before being selected, Zhang was an air force pilot, and Lai worked in the Hong Kong Police Force.

The agency also said an astronaut from the Shenzhou-23 crew is set to carry out a one-year-long in-orbit stay experiment.

HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee has congratulated Lai on becoming a member of China's fourth batch of astronauts. (Xinhua)



Edited by Robert Kemp

_____________________________
Last updated: 2026-05-23 HKT 11:00