Post by : Rameen Ariff

China took another leap in its ambitious space journey as the Shenzhou-21 mission lifted off late Friday night, carrying three astronauts — including the country’s youngest space traveler — and four lab mice to the Tiangong space station.

The Long March-2F rocket ignited at 11:44 p.m. local time (1544 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, marking yet another milestone in Beijing’s rapidly growing space program.

The new crew includes mission commander Zhang Lu, a seasoned space pilot; Wu Fei, a 32-year-old flight engineer who has become China’s youngest astronaut to fly into space; and Zhang Hongzhang, a 39-year-old payload specialist.

As they waved goodbye to their families and colleagues at the remote desert launch site, a military band played a patriotic song — a scene that reflected both pride and progress in China’s pursuit of its “space dream.”

Wu Fei, on his first mission, expressed his excitement before the launch, saying he felt “incomparably lucky” to represent his country in space. Commander Zhang Lu added that the team would “report back to our motherland and its people with complete success.”

The mission also includes a first for China’s space program — four lab mice, two male and two female, sent for the country’s inaugural in-orbit biological experiment involving rodents. Scientists hope the research will provide deeper insights into how microgravity affects living organisms.

The Shenzhou-21 spacecraft is expected to dock with Tiangong approximately three and a half hours after takeoff. Once aboard, the crew will conduct a variety of scientific experiments, spacewalks, and maintenance tasks, including installing anti-debris shields on the station’s exterior.

Under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, China has accelerated its efforts to realize its long-term “space dream.” The nation became the third in history to send humans into orbit after the United States and the former Soviet Union. It has since achieved remarkable milestones, including landing the Chang’e-4 probe on the far side of the Moon in 2019 and a robotic rover on Mars in 2021.

The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced that the crew will also participate in educational outreach activities, encouraging youth to pursue science and space exploration.

Looking ahead, China plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030 and build a permanent lunar base, cementing its position as a major space power.

Excluded from the International Space Station (ISS) since 2011 due to U.S. restrictions on collaboration with NASA, China has worked to expand international partnerships in space. Earlier this year, it signed an agreement with Pakistan to train and recruit the first foreign “taikonauts.”

As the Shenzhou-21 mission embarks on its journey, it not only strengthens China’s scientific capabilities but also symbolizes a new era of exploration — one that brings the nation closer to its dream of reaching the Moon and beyond.

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