Profiles of Shenzhou XXIII crew members

Colonel Zhang Zhiyuan, 39, a native of Gansu province, joined the PLA Air Force in September 2006 to study flying at the Aviation University of the Air Force. He later served as a first-class pilot in an Air Force unit and was selected as part of the third group of astronauts at the PLA Astronaut Division in September 2020.

Zhang is now a third-class astronaut at the division. He is the spacecraft pilot of the Shenzhou XXIII mission.