Watch the Launch

Additional Media

CASC - Long March 2F/G - Shenzhou 18 - Crewed Launch Tiangong - SLS-1 - Jiuquan - April 24, 2024

Shenzhou 18 (Chinese: 神舟十八号; pinyin: Shénzhōu Shíbā-hào; lit. 'Divine Boat Number 18') is a planned Chinese spaceflight to the Tiangong space station. It is ...

Shenzhou 18

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission: Human Exploration

Low Earth Orbit Launch Area 4 (SLS-1 / 921) Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Seventh crewed flight to the Chinese space station.

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • April 25, 2024, 2 p.m.

Launch success.


Cosmic_Penguin • April 25, 2024, 1 p.m.

Liftoff.


LL2 • April 25, 2024, 9:58 a.m.

Unofficial Re-stream by VideoFromSpace has started


Cosmic_Penguin • April 15, 2024, 9:20 a.m.

Added launch window per NOTAMs.


Cosmic_Penguin • March 15, 2024, 8:13 a.m.

NET April 25.


Long March 2

Family:
Configuration: F/G

The Long March 2F is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Designed to launch the crewed Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long March 2F is a human-rated two-stage version of the Long March 2E rocket, which in turn was based on the Long March 2C launch vehicle. It is launched from complex SLS at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    62.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.35 m
  • Fairing Diameter
  • Launch Mass
    464.0 T
  • Thrust
Family
  • Name
    Long March 2
  • Family
  • Variant
    F/G
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Long March 2F/G
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
    8399.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

Shenzhou 18


Active Human Rated Crew On-board: 3 Crew Capacity: 3
Destination: Tiangong Space Station
Serial Number: 18

Seventh crewed mission to the Chinese Space Station.

Shenzhou Details

Crew


Ye Guangfu

Commander - configurations.Country.None - ( CNSA )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Sept. 1, 1980
Age: 44

Cong Li

Engineer - configurations.Country.None - ( CNSA )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: Oct. 1, 1989
Age: 35

Guangsu Li

Engineer - configurations.Country.None - ( CNSA )

Status: Active

Date of Birth: July 1, 1987
Age: 37

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation

(CASC)

Chairman & President: Lei Fanpei Founded: 1999 Successes: 488 Failures: 14 Pending: 5

Agency Type:

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is the main contractor for the Chinese space program. It is state-owned and has a number of subordinate entities which design, develop and manufacture a range of spacecraft, launch vehicles, strategic and tactical missile systems, and ground equipment. It was officially established in July 1999 as part of a Chinese government reform drive, having previously been one part of the former China Aerospace Corporation. Various incarnations of the program date back to 1956.

INFO WIKI

Related News

SpaceNews

China’s Shenzhou-18 crew arrive at Tiangong space station

China’s three Shenzhou-18 mission astronauts arrived at the Tiangong space station Thursday following launch from Jiuquan spaceport.

SpacePolicyOnline.com

New Chinese Space Station Crew Arrives at Tiangong-3 Space Station

China continued its new pattern of space station crew exchanges today with the launch of the three-man Shenzhou-18 crew. They docked with the Tiangong-3 space station 6.5 hours after launch […]

NASASpaceflight

Launch Roundup: SpaceX lands its 300th booster, NASA tests a solar sail, and China launches three more taikonauts

During the last full week of April, forthcoming launches include two Starlink missions planned on Monday and Friday, and another two more Falcon 9 flights lifting customer satellites. The first of these is the delayed WorldView Legion 1 & …

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Launch Area 4 (SLS-1 / 921)


Falcon 9
Success
4 days, 7 hours ago
Thuraya 4-NGS
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Thuraya 4-NGS is a communication satellite being built by Airbus Defense and Space for the UAE based Yahsat. Based on the all-electric Airbus Eurosta…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
Starlink Group 12-6
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


PSLV
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
SPADEX (Space Docking Experiment)
Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

SPADEX (Space Docking Experiment) is an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) technology mission to demonstrate autonomous docking between 2 spac…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Astranis: From One to Many (4x Astranis MicroGEO)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Four Astranis MicroGEO communications satellite to be inserted in a custom geostationary orbit, from where they conduct on-orbit maneuvers to reach t…


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 3 days ago
Starlink Group 11-3
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 22 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Kinetica 1
Failure
1 week, 5 days ago
DEAR-3 & 10 other satellites
Launch Area 130 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Launched 11 satellites including AZSPACE's DEAR-3 prototype recoverable science experiment spacecraft and the French CASAA-Sat cubesat from the Marse…


Soyuz 2.1b
Success
2 weeks ago
Resurs-P No.5
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Resurs-P is a series of Russian commercial Earth observation satellites capable of acquiring high-resolution imagery (resolution up to 1.0 m).


Falcon 9
Success
2 weeks, 2 days ago
Starlink Group 12-2
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
2 weeks, 3 days ago
StriX Launch 6
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellites for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Falcon 9
Success
2 weeks, 3 days ago
Bandwagon 2 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers…