China concludes selection of fourth batch of astronauts for future space missions

The China Manned Space Agency said on Wednesday that it had concluded the selection of a fourth batch of astronauts to join future space missions.

China planned to choose a total of 12 to 14 trainee astronauts to join its pool of astronauts for future spaceflight missions. The candidates include pilots, flight engineers and payload experts. Trainee astronauts will go through intense training that normally lasts three and a half years before they are ready to conduct space missions.

China is planning two manned space missions in April and October this year, using the Long March-2F carrier rocket to send the Shenzhou-18 and Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft to join up with the orbiting China Space Station.