BEIJING, October 29. /TASS/. China will launch the Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft with a crew of three taikonauts from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on October 30, China Manned Space Agency Deputy Director Lin Xiqiang said.

"The Shenzhou-19 spacecraft will be launched on October 30 at 4:27 a.m. Beijing time (8:27 p.m. GMT on October 29)," he said at a press conference.

According to Lin Xiqiang, the three taikonauts of the Shenzhou-18 mission, who have been in orbit for six months, will return to Earth after rotation on November 4. The Shenzhou-19 team, which will replace them, will stay at the station until late April or early May 2025.

The Chinese station is located at an altitude of about 400 kilometers and will operate for more than 10 years. It is designed for three people (up to six for short periods when crews rotate). The mass of the complex in the shape of the letter T (in the foreseeable future it is planned to expand it into a cruciform shape), which has three docking nodes and an airlock to enter space, is 66 tons, the volume of the compartments reaches 110 cubic meters. The orbital facility became operational in 2022 and has been available for international projects ever since.