China to launch Shenzhou XVI manned spacecraft on Tuesday

Gui Haichao, 36, a native of Yunnan, is the first civilian in China to be on a spaceflight.

Gui started his career at the Beihang University, formerly known as the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, in September 2017 and is now a professor and doctoral supervisor at the university. He was picked by China's manned space program in October 2020 to train as one of the third-generation astronauts and assigned to work as a science payloads specialist.

In June 2022, he was selected for the Shenzhou XVI mission. He will become the first Chinese scientist to go on a spaceflight.