Il Nuovo Postiglione - China to send youngest astronaut, mice on space mission this week

NYSE - LSE

RBGPF	0%	79	$
SCS	-4.51%	15.96	$
RYCEF	1.17%	15.36	$
NGG	-1.46%	75.55	$
RELX	-3.45%	44.69	$
BTI	-1.43%	51.72	$
GSK	4.86%	45.93	$
CMSC	-0.08%	24.24	$
BP	2.1%	35.2	$
RIO	0.81%	72.58	$
CMSD	-0.33%	24.56	$
BCE	-0.34%	23.49	$
VOD	-2.82%	11.9	$
JRI	-1.59%	13.83	$
BCC	-2.9%	70.33	$
AZN	-0.46%	82.23	$

China to send youngest astronaut, mice on space mission this week

TECHNOLOGY 30.10.2025

China to send youngest astronaut, mice on space mission this week / Photo: Hector RETAMAL - AFP

The crew for China's next manned flight to the Tiangong space station will include the country's youngest ever astronaut to undertake a space mission, authorities said Thursday, as well as four lab mice.

Text size:

The Shenzhou-21 mission is set to blast off at 11:44 pm on Friday (1544 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, said China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) spokesperson Zhang Jingbo.

The Tiangong space station -- crewed by teams of three astronauts that are exchanged every six months -- is the crown jewel of China's space programme, into which billions of dollars have been poured in a bid to catch up with the United States and Russia.

This crew will be led by veteran space pilot Zhang Lu, who took part in the Shenzhou-15 mission more than two years ago.

He will lead payload specialist Zhang Hongzhang and flight engineer Wu Fei on their first space flight.

Wu, who has just turned 32, is set to become the youngest Chinese astronaut to undertake a space mission to date, authorities said.

Also along for the ride are four mice -- two male and two female -- which will be the subjects of China's first in-orbit experiments on rodents, CMSA spokesperson Zhang said.

Beijing's space programme, the third to put humans in orbit, has also landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon.

China has ramped up plans to achieve its "space dream" under President Xi Jinping.

Beijing says it aims to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030, where it intends to construct a base on the lunar surface.

The CMSA said on Thursday it was "holding firm" to that goal and outlined a series of "crucial upcoming tests" it was undertaking in preparation, including testing its Lanyue lunar lander and Mengzhou manned spacecraft.

T.Barbieri--INP

Featured

Meta shares sink as $16 bn US tax charge tanks profit

Meta shares dove more than eight percent in after-hours trading Wednesday after the tech giant reported a US tax charge took a roughly $16 billion bite out of its quarterly profit.

AI chip giant Nvidia becomes world's first $5 trillion company

AI chip juggernaut Nvidia became the world's first $5 trillion company on Wednesday, as investors remain confident that artificial intelligence will deliver a new wave of innovation and growth.

Investment Firm Alpha Star invests 1 million USD in AI Art Authentication Company Art Recognition

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND / ACCESS Newswire / October 29, 2025 / Art Recognition , the Swiss pioneer in AI art authentication, is delighted to announce a new strategic partnership with Alpha Star , a leading Luxembourg-based investment fund with a strong track record of supporting innovative companies in the art market. This collaboration marks an important milestone as Alpha Star becomes Art Recognition's anchor investor.

Archaeologists unearth clues on French colonial massacre in Senegal cemetery

Holes in the ground, clods of earth next to headstones, dislocated concrete outlines: the Thiaroye military cemetery near Dakar bears the marks of recent excavations meant to unearth the truth behind a WWII-era massacre by French colonial forces.