Chinese astronauts to conduct experiments in space, including lunar bricks

China sent three astronauts on Wednesday to its permanently inhabited space station, where they will conduct dozens of scientific experiments, some related to the construction of human habitats.

The spacecraft Shenzhou-19 and its three crew lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China at 4:27 a.m. (2027 GMT), according to state media.

“During the Shenzhou-19 flight … 86 space sci-tech experiments will be carried out in the fields of space life sciences, microgravity physics, materials, medicine, new technologies,” Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), said in a press conference on Tuesday.

One of these experiments is expected to involve exposing bricks made from simulated lunar soil to conditions in space.

Should the tests prove successful, the bricks could be a key material used in the construction of a permanent lunar research station, which China hopes to complete by 2035, as it would in theory be more convenient than transporting building materials from Earth.

The bricks will be sent in a separate uncrewed cargo spaceflight to the Shenzhou-19 crew next month.

The Shenzhou crewed spaceflights have been a regular fixture of China’s space program for the past two decades and have increased in frequency in recent years as China built and began operating its “Tiangong” space station, officially completed in November 2022.