Capsules

SHENZHOU-23 (SZ-23)

Chinese Crewed Spacecraft (Tiangong Crew Transport — Reinforced After Debris Strike) · China Manned Space Agency (CMSA)

Shenzhou-23 exists because a piece of space debris cracked a window on a spacecraft that was supposed to still be docked when this one arrived. In December 2025, an astronaut on a spacewalk photographed impact damage to Shenzhou-20's window — likely a strike from a tiny fragment of orbital debris — serious enough that China launched an emergency uncrewed replacement, Shenzhou-22, six months ahead of schedule just to guarantee the crew always had a working way home. That left both of Tiangong's docking ports full, and Shenzhou-20 had to be cleared out before Shenzhou-23 could even arrive. When it finally launched on May 24, 2026, carrying commander Zhu Yangzhu, pilot Zhang Zhiyuan, and Lai Ka-ying — the first astronaut from Hong Kong ever to fly to space — its windows had been quietly reinforced with structural protection the earlier design never had. One crew member is scheduled to remain aboard Tiangong for a full year, the longest single continuous stay in Chinese spaceflight history, gathering data China says will directly inform its planned crewed lunar landing by 2030.