JIUQUAN — China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Sunday night, sending three astronauts to its Tiangong space station. One member of the crew is scheduled to remain aboard the orbiting outpost for a year.

The crew consists of mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also identified as Li Jiaying using the Mandarin transliteration of her name. Lai is the first astronaut from Hong Kong to fly on a space mission. She was born and raised in Hong Kong and holds a doctoral degree in computer forensics.

According to Chinese state media, the Shenzhou 23 crew is set to conduct dozens of science and application projects during their time on the station. The astronaut staying for a year-long stint will work to "explore human adaptability and performance limits" in long-duration spaceflight environments, state media reported.

The new arrivals are expected to complete an in-orbit rotation with the crew of Shenzhou 21, who have been aboard Tiangong for more than 200 days, state media said. Tiangong, which translates to "Heavenly Palace," first hosted a Chinese crew in 2021. The name Shenzhou means "Divine Vessel."

China built and operates Tiangong on its own after being effectively excluded from the International Space Station on U.S. national security concerns. Last year, an emergency Shenzhou mission returned a team of astronauts who had been stranded on Tiangong due to a damaged spacecraft. China's astronauts have carried out multiple missions to the station since it began operations.

China is preparing for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030. NASA aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028.