The Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 8:59pm Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, announced the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Wednesday.
The spaceship will carry three astronauts — Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu — to carry out the Shenzhou-18 spaceflight mission, and Ye will be the commander, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA, at a press conference.
Shenzhou-18 is the 32nd flight mission of China's manned space program, and the third manned mission during the application and development stage of China's space station.
The crew will stay in orbit for about six months, and they are scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late October this year.
During the mission, the country's first in-orbit aquatic ecological research project will be implemented. Using zebrafish and goldfish algae to establish a self-cycling aquatic ecosystem in orbit, the project aims to make to a breakthrough in the cultivation of vertebrates in space, according to Lin.
