At the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceflight mission press conference on May 23, the spokesperson announced that, following deliberation, the launch of the Shenzhou-23 crewed spacecraft has been scheduled for 11:08 pm Beijing time on May 24.
At around 5:00 pm on May 23, the propellant filling work for the rocket-ship combination was fully completed. The Shenzhou-23 combination is now in a ready-to-launch state, with the launch process entering the final irreversible countdown. From this moment on, all monitoring and preparation work is dedicated solely to the final ignition.
Four core monitoring tasks ongoing
Personnel on the launch tower are currently on emergency standby duty, ready to respond to any unexpected situations. In addition, four core monitoring tasks are being carried out continuously: propellant leak concentration, propellant temperature, tank internal pressure, and rocket verticality. This entire monitoring process requires close collaboration between the rocket system and all launch site positions. The monitoring work will continue right up until ignition tonight.
Time-sensitive payload loading this afternoon
This afternoon, personnel will load time-sensitive uplink payloads into the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft. After that, spacecraft engineers will enter the capsule to inspect and confirm its internal status. The spacecraft will then be powered up and configured for launch.
The Shenzhou-23 spacecraft used for this mission is the third batch of spacecraft in the space station phase. Compared to previous batches, Shenzhou-23 has undergone hardware and software upgrades and optimisations, giving it stronger overall performance — fully capable of long-term residency and diverse space science missions.
Compared to the previous rocket, this rocket system has 16 technical status changes, including 10 on the rocket itself and 6 on the ground. Following these improvements, the rocket's reliability and safety have been further enhanced, with more stable flight attitude and stronger anti-electromagnetic interference capabilities.
Preparations at the launch site are proceeding in an orderly manner. It is expected that by around 3:00 pm today, personnel from all systems will be fully in place, officially entering the launch process.
The four sets of rotating platforms currently enclosing the Shenzhou-23 rocket-ship combination are expected to begin opening one by one at around 9:00 pm tonight.
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