The Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship will be launched at 4:27 a.m. on Wednesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency announced at a press conference on Tuesday.

Chinese astronauts, or taikonauts, Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze will carry out the Shenzhou-19 manned mission to China's space station, with Cai as the commander.

Cai was also a member of the crew for the Shenzhou-14 manned mission, while Song and Wang are from the country's third batch of taikonauts and this will be their first flight mission.

The crew is scheduled to stay in orbit for approximately six months, returning to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late April or early May next year.

During their mission, the crew will welcome the Tianzhou-8 cargo ship and the Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft.

Major purposes

The Shenzhou-19 mission marks the fourth crewed mission in the application and development phase of China's space station and the 33rd mission of the country's manned space program.

During their six-month stay, the crew will undertake various tasks, including an in-orbit rotation with the Shenzhou-18 crew, space science and application tests and experiments, extravehicular activities, cargo transportation, installation of space debris shelters, and the installation and recovery of extravehicular payloads and equipment. They will also engage in popular science education and public welfare activities to further enhance the operational efficiency of the space station.

86 space sci-tech experiments

A total of 86 space science research and technological experiments will be conducted, with a focus on biological and physical space science, one of the five major scientific themes outlined in China's newly released medium- and long-term development plan for space science from 2024 to 2050.

The experiments, including structural analysis of protein crystals grown under microgravity conditions and the nonequilibrium dynamics of soft matter, will cover fields of space life science, microgravity basic physics, space materials science, space medicine and new space technology.

Several scientific achievements are anticipated in areas such as frontier research in fundamental theories, new material preparation, mechanisms of space radiation, and the physiological effects of microgravity, as well as the biological effects of a hypomagnetic field and molecular mechanisms.

A report on the space station's scientific research and application progress (2024) will be released to mark the second anniversary of the completion of China's space station, highlighting the representative achievements of scientific and application missions conducted since the station's deployment.

Click here for the livestream of the press conference.