The Shenzhou XVII mission's three crew members

Tang Hongbo

Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo, 47, a native of Hunan province, joined a People's Liberation Army Air Force flight school in September 1995 and was assigned to a fighter jet regiment after graduation.

He became a first-grade pilot at the combat unit and was gradually promoted to the post of group commander.

In May 2010, Tang was selected as a member of the second group of astronauts for the PLA Astronaut Division and six years later he was a reserve for the two-member crew of the Shenzhou XI mission.

He made his first journey into space in June 2021, on the three-month Shenzhou XII mission, becoming one of the first inhabitants of China's Tiangong space station.

In November 2021, he was given the honorary title "Heroic Astronaut" and awarded the Third-grade Space Service Medal.

Tang, a first-grade astronaut, is the mission commander of the Shenzhou XVII spaceflight.