China’s Shenzhou-21 astronaut crew to stay in space an extra month
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Three crew members of the Shenzhou-21 space flight mission waving during a send-off ceremony on Oct 31, 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HONG KONG – China’s Shenzhou-21 astronaut crew will stay in space for an extra month, after careful consideration from China’s Manned Space Agency, the country’s state broadcaster reported on April 17.
The Shenzhou-21 space rocket and its crew blasted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-west China on Oct 31, 2025.
The missions involve trios of astronauts on six-month stays in space. On the current mission are Mr Zhang Hongzhang, Mr Wu Fei – China's youngest astronaut to be sent to space – and Commander Zhang Lu, who flew on the Shenzhou-15 mission back in 2022. They were aged 39, 32 and 48, respectively, at the time of the launch.
The three are working closely with the support of the space station’s robotic arm and researchers, and have successfully completed tasks such as installing space debris protection devices and inspecting extravehicular equipment and facilities, broadcaster CCTV said, citing the space agency.
The trio have been in orbit for more than five months and are in good living and working condition, CCTV added.
The Shenzhou-21 crew were expected to return to Earth around April 2026, once they completed their half-year shift. That will now be extended by a month, although CCTV did not give an exact date for their return.
“To further verify the technologies related to long-term astronaut stays in orbit... it is planned to extend the crew’s stay in orbit by approximately one month,” CCTV said.
During their space flight, the astronaut crew will continue to conduct relevant scientific and technological experiments, it said. REUTERS
