China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) spokesperson Lin Xiqiang told reporters on Monday that the country's first civilian astronaut is Gui Haichao, who will be sent to space tomorrow morning.
Gui will take off on Tuesday along with two other astronauts from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China for the Tiangong space station as part of a three-person mission.
“Payload expert Gui Haichao is a professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics,” the CMSA spokesperson said. Gui will “mainly be responsible for the on-orbit operation of space science experimental payloads”.
Hitherto, all Chinese astronauts sent into space so far have been members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The mission will be led by Shenzhou-16 mission commander Jing Haipeng, a major general in the PLA, who is on his fourth journey into space, according to state media.
The third crew member on the mission is Zhu Yangzhu, a PLA engineer.
The group is headed to Earth’s lower orbit, between 400 and 450 kilometers, where their space rocket will dock on the Chinese-made, owned, and manned Tiangong [heavenly palace] space station.
The construction of China's third and permanent space station, Tiangong, which officials say is open to international collaboration, was completed in 2022.
The space station, which is designed for a lifespan of at least a decade, is run by rotating 3-member crews who conduct scientific experiments and test new space technologies during their stay at the site.
In 2011, the US government banned NASA from engaging with Chinese space agencies and as a result, Chinese astronauts have not been able to visit the International Space Station.
However, under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government has invested billions of dollars into its space projects.
China has been able to make huge progress in this regard and is currently up to par with its rivals in space, namely, the United States and Russia.
A report compiled and published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in March found that China was pulling ahead in the race for global technological dominance far quicker than previously thought.
Xi, who has underscored the importance of investment in science and technology, is pulling the nation way ahead in high-impact research across domains including defense, space, robotics, energy, the environment, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence, the report said.
“China’s lead is the product of deliberate design and long-term policy planning, as repeatedly outlined by President Xi Jinping and his predecessors,” the report wrote.
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