Three Chinese taikonauts are preparing to travel to the Tiangong space station as part of the country's eighth long-duration space flight.

Commander Cai Xuzhe, along with Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, will lead the approximately 6.5-hour Shenzhou-19 mission. They will fly aboard a LongMarch 2F Y19 rocket, which began refueling around 9 a.m. BJT on Oct. 29 (28 a.m. EDT on Oct. 28, 01:00 UTC on Oct. 29).

Launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China is scheduled for October 30 at 4:27 a.m. BJT (4:27 p.m. EDT, 2027 UTC on October 29).

Xuzhe is making his second trip to space after previously flying on Shenzhou-14 in 2022. During this mission, the 44-year-old People's Liberation Army Air Force pilot undertook a spacewalk that lasted a total of just over four hours.

In addition to making her first trip to space, Haoze will also be the first female space engineer from China to go into space, according to state news agency China Global Television Network (CGTN). She is also the third woman from China to enter orbit, following in the footsteps of Liu Yang and Wang Yaping.

Lingdong, another Air Force pilot, will also make his first trip into space. Like Haoze, 34-year-old Lingdong also became part of the third group of taikonauts in 2020.

In an interview with the state news channel China Global Television Network (CGTN), he spoke about his desire to finally fly into space.

“I once flew at dawn, reached an altitude of 20,000 meters and saw the curvature of the earth. Watching the sunrise at that altitude made me feel both small and incredibly happy,” Lingdong said. “Now I’m thrilled for the chance to see the awesomeness of space from our space station.”

The Shenzhou-18 mission trio Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu will return from the TSS with the incoming taikonauts after a brief handover.