“This is the crew of astronauts with the lowest average age since the launch of the space station construction mission,” Beijing’s State Council Information Office said in a statement.
The all-male trio will be led by Tang Hongbo, who is on his first return mission to the Tiangong space station.
“In the past two years, I have often dreamed of going back to space,” Tang said at a news conference on Wednesday.
He said, “The space station is our second home that takes us away from Earth into the universe.”
He will be accompanied by Tang Shengji and Jiang Xinlin, both in their thirties and both traveling into space for the first time.
The average age of the Shenzhou-16 crew at launch was 42 years, while the average age of the crew was 38 years.
“According to the plan, the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft will conduct autonomous rendezvous and docking procedures after entering orbit,” Lin Ziqiang, a spokesman for China’s space program, said during a press conference Wednesday morning.
After starting the process, it will be connected to the station’s core module in “about six and a half hours,” he said.