China’s human spaceflight company has begun the seek for a brand new batch of astronauts to affix its ranks because the nation strikes to finish its orbiting space station.
The China Manned Area Company (CMSA) announced (opens in new tab) on Sunday (Oct. 2) that it’ll choose 12 to 14 candidates to affix its pool of astronauts for future spaceflight missions.
CMSA mentioned that it’ll search seven to eight pilots together with 5 or 6 spaceflight engineers. As much as two of the latter group can be payload specialists.
Associated: The latest news about China’s space program
The pilots can be chosen from the Folks’s Liberation Military. Civilians from China’s space-related sectors can apply to be spaceflight engineers.
The brand new astronaut choice spherical is open to candidates from Hong Kong and Macao for the primary time.
These chosen will kind China’s fourth era of astronauts. Their recruitment follows the selection of 18 astronauts in 2020, who’ve been present process coaching and will quickly be out there for choice for missions.
The brand new choice comes as China strikes into the ultimate levels of building of its Tiangong space station.
China launched the primary two modules for Tiangong in April 2021 and July 2022. The third and final module for the T-shaped orbital outpost is at the moment scheduled for launch on the finish of October.
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