China has achieved another major milestone in space exploration with the launch of China’s Shenzhou-20 mission to the Tiangong space station.
Just a few hours ago, on April 24, 2025, China successfully launched the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China. The spacecraft lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket at 5 p.m. GMT. This mission, the 15th crewed spaceflight in China’s Shenzhou program, underscores the nation’s growing influence in space exploration
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The Shenzhou-20 mission carries a crew of three astronauts: Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, with Chen Dong serving as the mission commander. This is Chen Dong’s third spaceflight, having previously contributed to constructing the Tiangong space station during the Shenzhou-14 mission. Chen Zhongrui, a former air force pilot, and Wang Jie, an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The crew’s destination is the Tiangong space station, China’s permanently inhabited orbital outpost, which will be completed in late 2022. Tiangong, meaning “Heavenly Palace,” consists of three modules and has been continuously occupied since its completion. The Shenzhou-20 astronauts will replace the Shenzhou-19 crew, who have been aboard Tiangong since October 2024, conducting experiments and performing record-breaking spacewalks.
The crew will spend six months aboard the Tiangong space station. The Shenzhou-20 mission shows China’s rapid progress in space exploration. With ambitions to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030 and establish a lunar base.
