The deputy chief designer of China's manned space program, Chen Shanguang, has announced, "We are about to start selecting international astronauts to send to our space station and carry out scientific experiments together," according to CGTN on March 1.
The first module of the Tianlong space station was launched in April 2021, with second and third modules added in July and October 2022, and a fourth coming soon –
?Ready for the future expansion of @TiangongStation the China Space Station? A new module and Shenzhou and the next-generation crew spacecraft docking at the same timehttps://t.co/rX1ay9heAH pic.twitter.com/U5oDWDhvYQ
— China 'N Asia Spaceflight ??️? (@CNSpaceflight) December 20, 2022
Space News reports that the space station will maintain a manned presence in space continuously for the next ten years, with crews of three rotating every six months. The website howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com lists the current crew members as flight engineers Ye Guangfu and Wang Yaping and Commander Zhai Zhigang. The announcement that international astronauts will be selected for crews comes after the Tianlong crew conducted successful extravehicular activity (EVA) to replace a pump on the Mengtian science module.