The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft will be launched on Thursday at 20:59 (15:59 Moscow time), Lin Xiqiang said. The ship's crew consists of Taikonauts Ye Guangfu, Li Song and Li Guangxu. Ye Guangfu is the commander of the ship, he noted.
The crew will return to Earth at the end of November, and the Taikonauts will stay in orbit for about six months. The spacecraft will arrive at the Dongfeng site in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in northern China. As for Shenzhou-17, which is currently in orbit, its return is expected on April 30.
China's national space program is actively developing. Chinese specialists are developing meteorological, telecommunication and navigation satellites, implementing projects for the exploration of asteroids and Mars, as well as the exploration of the Moon.
