List of Chinese astronauts

Chinese taikonauts on a 2010 counterfeit Somalia stamp

This is a list of Chinese astronauts, sometimes called taikonauts. The list includes people trained by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft.

As the Chinese space program developed during the sixties, various proposals for crewed spacecraft were made. The first crewed spacecraft proposed by the People's Republic of China during the late 1960s and early 1970s was the Shuguang One which was expected to bring the first Chinese astronaut in 1973 into space.[1] For this programme 19 astronauts were selected in 1971.[1] However, shortly after these plans were made, several leading scientists attached to the project were denounced, bringing progress to a standstill.[1] Instead, NASA astronaut Taylor Wang, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, became the first ethnically Chinese person in space in 1985.

The People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps was established in 1998 for the selection of Shenzhou program astronauts.[2] In 2003, Yang Liwei was launched aboard Shenzhou 5, becoming the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program.[3] This achievement made China the third country to independently send humans into space. During the Shenzhou 7 mission in 2008, Zhai Zhigang became the first Chinese citizen to carry out a spacewalk.[4] In 2012, Liu Yang became the first Chinese woman to be launched into space aboard Shenzhou 9 and also the first aboard a space station Tiangong-1.[5] In 2021, Wang Yaping became the first Chinese woman to walk in space during the Shenzhou 13 mission.[6] In 2023, Gui Haichao became the first civilian astronaut not enlisted in the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps and is the first mission payload specialist.[7] In 2024, Wang Haoze became the third Chinese woman to travel to space on the Shenzhou 19 mission and is the only female spaceflight engineer.[8]

As of October 2024, twenty-four Chinese nationals have traveled in space.

  1. ^ a b c "Shuguang 1". Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  2. ^ Xi, Qixin; Fan, Juwei; Liu, Cheng (2003-10-17). Xu, Dongmei (ed.). "中国航天员诞生记" [Birth of Chinese Astronauts]. Xinhua.net. Xinhua. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  3. ^ "Shenzhou 5". Archived from the original on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  4. ^ "Shenzhou 7". Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  5. ^ Jonathan Amos (18 June 2012). "Shenzhou-9 docks with Tiangong-1". BBC News.
  6. ^ "Shenzhou-13 Crew Conducts First Extravehicular Activities, Wang Yaping Becomes First Female Chinese Astronaut to Spacewalk". Pandaily. 2021-11-08. Retrieved 2021-11-11.
  7. ^ "China to send its first civilian astronaut into space". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  8. ^ "神十九乘组王浩泽，本硕毕业于东南大学，系我国目前唯一的女航天飞行工程师" [Wang Haoze, a member of the Shenzhou 19 crew, graduated from Southeast University with a bachelor's and master's degree. She is currently the only female aerospace flight engineer in my country.]. Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). 2024-10-29. Retrieved 2024-10-29.