JIUQUAN, China (AP) 鈥� China said all systems are ready to launch the next crew to its orbiting space station early Wednesday, the latest mission to make the country a major space power.
The two men and one woman will replace the astronauts who've lived on the Tiangong space station for the last six months.
The new mission commander, Cai Xuzhe, went to space in the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022, while the other two, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, are first-time space travelers both born in the 1990s.
Song was an air force pilot and Wang an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation who will be the crew鈥檚 payload specialist. Wang will be the third Chinese woman aboard a crewed mission.
The three appeared at a brief news conference Tuesday behind protective glass, declaring their intention to carry out their scientific projects on the space station and 鈥渂ring pride to the fatherland.鈥�
The Shenzhou-19 spaceship carrying the trio is due to launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China atop a Long March-2F rocket, the backbone of China鈥檚 crewed space missions. Launch time is set for 4:27 a.m., according to the space agency鈥檚 spokesperson Lin Xiqiang.
China built its , largely due to the United States鈥� concerns over the program鈥檚 complete control by the People鈥檚 Liberation Army, the Chinese Communist Party鈥檚 military arm.
Besides putting a space station into orbit, the space agency has . It aims before 2030, which would make China the second nation after the United States to do so. It also plans to build a research station on the moon.
The moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the U.S. 鈥� still the leader in space exploration 鈥� and others, including and India. America is planning to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, though NASA to 2026 earlier this year.
During the upcoming mission, the space station will receive resupplies from an uncrewed craft, aiding them in performing space walks and replacing and installing equipment to protect the Tiangong station from space debris, much of which created by China.
The mission is due to end in late April or early May. Lin, the spokesman, said China has measures in place in the event that the astronauts must return earlier.
China launched its first crewed mission in 2003, becoming only the third nation to do so after the former Soviet Union and the United States. The space program is a source of enormous national pride and a hallmark of China's technological advances over the past two decades.
The Associated Press
