Shenzhou 17

Shenzhou 17 was a Chinese spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, launched on 26 October 2023. It carried three People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonauts on board a Shenzhou spacecraft. The mission was the twelfth crewed Chinese spaceflight and the seventeenth flight overall of the Shenzhou program.

As of October 2023, Shenzhou 17's crew is the youngest ever sent to the Tiangong space station, with an average age of only 38 years old.

Background
Shenzhou 17 was the sixth spaceflight to the Tiangong space station, lasting just over six months.

The spacecraft entered the launch area in April 2023, prior to launch was maintained in a state of near-readiness if needed as a lifeboat for the Shenzhou 16 crew.

The crew of Shenzhou 17 was announced on 25 October 2023.

Mission
The flight launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 26 October 2023 at 09:46 UTC, near the end of the Shenzhou 16 mission. Approximately 6.5 hours after launch, the spacecraft docked with the Tianhe core module's forward docking port.

Following docking, the crew entered the station and were greeted by the crew of Shenzhou 16, with whom they would share a four-day overlap between the two missions prior to Shenzhou 16's departure. The two crews sent a televised message to Mission Control as part of a handover ceremony, which was also livestreamed by Chinese national television broadcaster CCTV.

The mission ended on 30 April 2024, 9:46 UTC with a landing near the launch site in Inner Mongolia.

Spacewalks
On 21 December 2023 BJT, the first scheduled spacewalk of Shenzhou 17 was carried out by Tang Hongbo and Tang Shengjie through the airlock of the Wentian lab module. Tasks included a repair test of the Tianhe core module's solar panels, which have sustained minor damage caused by impacts of space debris and micrometeoroids. The spacewalk lasted for 7 hours and 25 minutes.

On 2 March 2024 BJT, the second scheduled spacewalk of Shenzhou 17 was carried out by Tang Hongbo and Jiang Xinlin through the airlock of the Wentian lab module. Tasks included maintenance of the solar panels of the Tianhe core module, evaluation and analysis of the performance status of the solar panel power generation and also inspection of the status of the space station modules. The spacewalk lasted for 7 hours and 52 minutes.

Crew
The crew of Shenzhou 17 is the youngest to fly to the Tiangong space station, with Commander Tang Hongbo being 48 and taikonauts Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin being 34 and 35 respectively at the time of the flight. Tang Hongbo is also the first person to visit the station twice, having previously flown to Tiangong on Shenzhou 12. Tang Shengjie is also the youngest taikonaut to perform a spacewalk.