Chinese women in space

As of 2024, the People's Republic of China has sent three women to space: Liu Yang, Wang Yaping and Wang Haoze all of whom are taikonauts in the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC). Liu Yang, China's first female taikonaut, first flew in 2012 aboard Shenzhou 9, and since then four additional missions have included female crew members: Shenzhou 10, 13, 14 and 19. According to the China National Space Administration, many women also hold leadership positions in the Chinese space program, and actively contribute to the Chinese space effort.^[1]

China launched its first crewed space mission, Shenzhou 5, in 2003, with a single male taikonaut (Yang Liwei) aboard. Following the mission's success, Gu Xiulian, president of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), recommended to the Chinese space program that women should be considered for spaceflight selection. This recommendation was accepted, and was publicly announced in early 2004.^[2] Women's integration into the space program necessitated minor changes to the interior design of the Shenzhou spacecraft to accommodate both male and female taikonauts.^[2]

Although women were officially allowed to become taikonauts as of 2004, the first Chinese spaceflight with a female crewmember was not launched until 2012.^[3] This mission, Shenzhou 9, included taikonaut Liu Yang as Laboratory Assistant, making her the first Chinese woman to fly in space. Shenzhou 9 was launched on 16 June 2012, the 49th launch anniversary of Vostok 6, the first mission to put a woman (Soviet parachutist Valentina Tereshkova) into space.

On 11 June 2013, Shenzhou 10 launched with taikonaut Wang Yaping aboard as Laboratory Assistant, making her the second Chinese woman in space.^[4] Wang Yaping became the first Chinese woman to travel to space twice and the first to visit the Tiangong space station in October of 2021, when she launched aboard Shenzhou 13.^[5]

Liu Yang would return to space in 2022, flying aboard Shenzhou 14.^[6]

In 2024, Lai Ka-ying was the first Hong Kong resident selected for China’s space programme.^[7]

Liu Yang became the first female Chinese taikonaut in 2012.^[8][9] Throughout her astronautical career, Liu has been awarded the title of “Heroic Astronaut” and received the Third-class Space Service Medal for her work abord the Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-14 missions, respectively.^[10]

Showing exemplary academic performance in her formative schooling years, Liu’s professors signed her up in 1997 to attend the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Air Force Aviation University in Changchun to become a pilot.^[8][11] Liu excelled in her training flying cargo planes and eventually became the Deputy Head of her flying unit.^[11] In May 2010, Yang was approached by the PLA’s taikonaut corps with an offer to join.^[9]

Liu flew her first mission aboard the Shenzhou-9 in 2012, during which the three-person crew achieved China’s first crewed docking mission by joining with the Tiangong-1 experimental space station.^[8][11][12] On this mission, Liu performed the first manual docking of the flight and was in charge of medical experiments throughout the flight’s duration.^[10][9] The taikonauts returned 12 days after takeoff.^[10]

After returning to Earth, Liu became a representative in the 13th National People’s Congress and the vice president of the All-China Women’s Federation.^[10]

Liu returned to space in 2022 aboard the Shenzhou-14, with the goal of staying on the Tiangong space station for six months to oversee the final portions of construction.^[10][11]

Wang Yaping’s space career began in 2013 aboard the Shenzhou-10 where she became the second female taikonaut.^[13] During this mission, Wang and her two colleagues successfully docked, undocked, and boarded the Tiangong-1.^[13] From the space station, she gave a live-streamed physics lesson to around 80,000 schools, reaching 60 million students and teachers.^[13][12] Wang returned to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-10 15 days after takeoff.^[13][12]

Wang returned to space on the Shenzhou-13 on 15 October 2021, becoming the first female to live onboard the Tiangong space station.^[12] On 8 November 2021, she completed a 6.5 hour spacewalk making her the 16th female astronaut and first female taikonaut to do so.^[14] Wang returned to Earth aboard the Shenzhou-13 in April 2022, 182 days after takeoff.^[15] Wang and her 2 colleagues set a record for most days in orbit by any Taikonaut.^[15]

Wang Haoze was the first Chinese female taikonaut from Group 3. She flew on Shenzhou 19 in October 2024 and is the only female spaceflight engineer.^[16] She was also the first female taikonaut of Manchu ethnicity on space.

According to Jun Lu, Senior Engineer at Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications Technology and Deputy Chief Designer of BeiDou Grounded Test and Validation System, “[women’s] qualities of being meticulous, dedicated, responsible and their ability to work under high pressure for a long time” allow them to thrive in the field due to the “high risk and long development cycle” of space technology development.^[17] However, Chinese taikonaut academies institute more stringent qualifications for female taikonauts than their male counterparts.^[18] Due to fears that childbirth and subsequent family obligations would disrupt training for two to three years, taikonaut academies favor women who are married and already have children.^[18] Additionally, women are more closely examined for scars, heavy odors, and decayed teeth, as these traits could cause “disaster” in space.^[19]

Prior to the launch of Shenzhou 9, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported a former spaceflight official as claiming that marriage was a requirement for all female Chinese astronauts^[20] due to concerns that spaceflight could potentially harm women's fertility^[21] and also "married women would be more physically and psychologically mature."^[22] However, this requirement has been officially denied by the director of the China Astronaut Centre, stating that this is a preference but not a strict limitation.^[23]

When interviewing women taikonauts, the media was more interested in their family lives and female physiology than when interviewing male taikonauts.^[24] Questions regarding menstruation are often brought up as well.^[24]

Pang Zhihao, a Chinese National Space Administration official, claims women taikonauts should also look their best at all times.^[24] He revealed that both Tiangong-1 and Tiangong were stocked with hygiene products and cosmetics during Wang Yaping’s missions.^[24] In a video broadcast by China Central Television, he declares that "[f]emale astronauts may be in better condition after putting on makeup”.^[24]

A study published in the National Science Review found that women make up a large portion of space engineers working on Chinese missions.^[17] The Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System has three Chinese women leading the project as sub-system chief designers, with others filling senior positions such as deputy commanders and deputy chief engineers.^[17]

One notable woman working on China’s space program is 24-year-old Zhou Chengyu, the first and youngest female space commander in China.^[25] She first began working at the Wenchang site as an operator after she graduated from university at the beginning of 2020 and, by the end of the year, had become the commander of her unit.^[25] She worked on the rocket connector system for the Chang’e-5 moon mission, which aimed to collect moon rocks for scientific testing. Chang’e-5 successfully launched in December 2020.^[25] Zhou went viral on social media for her accomplishments, with many users calling her a "frontline soldier in the field of aerospace" and a "big sister".^[26]

Updated as of November 8, 2023.

• People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps
  • List of Chinese astronauts
• List of women astronauts
• Women in space