China launched the crewed Shenzhou-18 mission on April 24 at 12:58:57 UTC. The launch was conducted as usual, with a Chang Zheng 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou spacecraft on top.
The mission transported three new crew members to the Tiangong Space Station. The new astronaut trio will replace the Shenzhou-17 crew, which launched to Tiangong in October 2023. The time between launch and docking was confirmed to be roughly 6.5 hours.