China completes fourth taikonaut batch selection ahead of lunar missions

China has ten new taikonauts ahead of lunar missions later in the decade.

Two taikonauts training for an extravehicular activity in a neutral bouncy pool.

The China Manned Space Agency announced on June 11th that it had completed the selection of its fourth batch of taikonauts. Applications were received from the Chinese mainland and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao.

From the applications, the agency narrowed its selection down to ten taikonauts, eight spacecraft pilots and two payload specialists. The payload specialists of the fourth batch are from Hong Kong and Macao, with one from each. Initial selection of the fourth batch began in October of 2022.

The identities of the new taikonauts are not yet known to the public, which is standard practice for the China Manned Space Agency who prefer to reveal crews shortly before their missions.

Previous taikonauts selection saw an initial fourteen taikonauts being chosen in 1998, with seven more selected in 2010, and eighteen more in 2020 as part of the previous batch. To date, China has selected and trained forty-nine taikonauts, with five currently retired from active duty. Only twenty-two of the taikonauts ever selected have currently flown to space as part of thirteen missions.

The remainder of this article is available on Cosmic Nxws.