People visit a full-size model of the Tianhe core module of China's space station at the exhibition at the National Museum of China in Beijing, March 1, 2023. The exhibition, marking the 30th anniversary of China's manned spacefl ight project, has been held at the museum recently. Photo: IC

 
China has scheduled launch missions for the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft and the Shenzhou-16 and -17 crewed spacecraft in 2023 as the first batch of missions since the China Space Station embarked on new chapter of application and development, the Global Times learned from the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Sunday.

According to a statement from the CMSA, the China Space Station is under stable operation in its orbit, with the Shenzhou-15 spaceflight crew onboard in good condition. The crew is expected to return to Earth in June. 

China will launch the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft in May, and the spacecraft has already been transported to Wenchang Space Launch Site in South China's Hainan Province. 

The crew members for the two manned spaceflight missions this year have been selected and they are now training for the missions, the CMSA disclosed. 

The CMSA highlighted that the first batch of international experiment projects that were jointly selected by the agency and the United Nation Office for Outer Space Affairs, will be uploaded to the China Space Station this year.  

In the meantime, China is pushing forward its crewed lunar exploration missions and now the country has made breakthroughs in key technology and conducted in-depth studies on the plans. China will carry out in full swing the research and development for various stages toward a moon landing mission this year.