China unveiled its crew members for the Shenzhou-16 spaceflight mission on Monday, with the astronauts meeting the press a day before their scheduled launch.

Taikonauts Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao will carry out the mission to the China Space Station (CSS), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced at a press conference.

The trio, the first crew after the CSS entered the application and development phase in 2022, is made up of three types of astronauts, said the agency.

Jing Haipeng will be the commander and spacecraft pilot, Zhu Yangzhu will be the flight engineer and Gui Haichao the payload specialist.

Coming from the astronaut brigade of the People's Liberation Army, Jing and Zhu will be mainly responsible for direct control and management of spacecraft and carrying out technological experiments.

Gui Haichao, a professor from Beihang University, will be responsible for conducting the in-orbit operation of aerospace science experiments and research. 

Gui has received professional training in science, space engineering and other fields and has rich experience in operation, said the CMSA.

Jing Haipeng

Born in 1966, Jing was selected in the first batch of China's astronauts in January 1998.

He has participated in the Shenzhou-7, Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-11 manned missions, and served as commander in the last two missions. He was selected as the crew member and commander of the Shenzhou-16 manned flight mission in June 2022.

Jing will have conducted more flight missions than any other Chinese astronaut when his fourth mission begins on Tuesday.

"I feel honored and proud be born in a great motherland," said Jing at the press conference, adding that he also felt proud to be part of "a great new era."

The 57-year-old said he has been eager to go into space again for seven years, when he completed his last mission. "I haven't missed training in seven years, nor have I slept before 12 o'clock every night, and I've barely had a weekend off," he added.

Zhu Yangzhu

Zhu Yangzhu, born in September 1986, joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 2005. He was selected in the third batch of the country's astronauts in September 2020. 

Shenzhou-16 will be his first space mission, and he will be the first flight engineer entering the CSS.

Gui Haichao

Gui Haichao, born in November 1986, was also selected as a member of China's third batch of astronauts in 2020, serving as a payload specialist.

"The word 'astronaut' was sacred and far from me in the past, and I've been dreaming of moving my research work into space one day," he said. "I didn't hesitate to sign up when I learned in 2018 that the country was about to select payload specialists."

With Gui's arrival, the space station will welcome its first payload specialist.

Data editor: Sun Yiwen
Graphics designer: Mukesh Mohanan