China’s Shenzhou-19 spaceship will blast off at 4:27 a.m. on Wednesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gansu province, the China Manned Space Agency announced during a press conference on Tuesday.

The mission is the fourth manned space flight China has undertaken since the completion of the country’s Tiangong space station in 2022, and the 33rd mission in China’s manned space program.

It will see a fresh crew of three taikonauts travel to Tiangong, where they will relieve the current crew manning the station and perform dozens of scientific experiments.

The Shenzhou-19 crew includes two of China’s youngest-ever taikonauts, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, both born in 1990 and who are embarking on their first space missions, a spokesperson from the space agency told the press conference.

The two rookies will be under the command of veteran taikonaut Cai Xuzhe, who also served on the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022.

Wang is also China’s first female space flight engineer, and is set to become only the third Chinese woman to participate in a space mission. She previously served as a senior engineer at the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

“Although I’m the only female space flight engineer … I never felt special because I’m a woman during training,” said Wang, who will be responsible for coordinating the experiments, supplies, and space station operations during the mission.

The three taikonauts are due to stay in low orbit until late April or early May of next year, before returning to the Dongfeng landing site in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

During the mission, they will undertake a series of tasks, including taking over control of the Tiangong space station from the Shenzhou-18 crew, transporting cargo to the station, installing space debris shelters onboard, and performing several extravehicular activities.

The crew will also conduct 86 scientific experiments mainly related to the discipline of space physics — one of the five research areas China has prioritized in its 2024–2050 space science development strategy — as well as fields such as space life science, space materials science, space medicine, and new space technology.

Space physics focuses on understanding how objects and living things move and behave in space, helping scientists gain a deeper understanding of the basic rules governing the universe. China aims to become a world leader in this field by 2050.

A report on the scientific research breakthroughs achieved aboard Tiangong will be published later this year to coincide with the second anniversary of the space station’s completion, according to the agency.

Once they have been relieved by Shenzhou-19, the Shenzhou-18 crew will finally return to Earth after just over 190 days in orbit. They are due to touch down at the Dongfeng landing site on Nov. 4.

(Header image: Astronauts Wang Haoze, Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong (from left to right) attend a news conference before the Shenzhou-19 spaceflight mission at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, near Jiuquan, Gansu province, Oct. 29, 2024. VCG）