The Shenzhou-23 crewed spacecraft is scheduled for launch at 11:08 p.m. Sunday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency announced on Saturday.

Astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying will carry out China's Shenzhou-23 manned spaceflight mission to its space station, with Zhu as the commander.

The Shenzhou-23 mission marks the seventh crewed spaceflight during the application and development phase of China's space station and the 40th flight of the country's crewed space program.

The main objectives of the mission are to complete an in-orbit crew rotation with the Shenzhou-21 crew, continue space science and application experiments, perform extravehicular activities and cargo transfer tasks, carry out the installation of debris protection devices, install and retrieve external payloads and equipment, conduct science education and public welfare activities and conduct space payload tests.

One crew member will carry out a year-long in-orbit residency experiment.