(Yicai Global) May 25 -- China will open up recruitment of its third group of astronauts to include flight engineers, payload experts, and other scientists rather than just pilots, according to the country’s chief designer of manned aerospace engineering.

Selection of the astronauts will take place in July to find people capable of performing missions on the Chinese space station, The Paper cited Zhou Jianping, also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, as saying in a video interview yesterday.

The latest group of astronauts will use their specialized technical knowledge to operate advanced experimental equipment and to optimize space programs, he added.
“We will start key technology verification of the space station and launch missions for the construction phase next year”, Zhou said.

Zhou’s first planned mission is to launch the core module where the astronauts will live and work in space and then launch the Shenzhou manned spacecraft and cargo ship to dock to the module and form a basic space station. These Shenzhou craft will also be used to transport the astronauts and supplies to and from the station. A total of 11 flight missions will take place within two years, he added.

The Chinese space station will eventually add a telescope to conduct space surveys that could“ urge humans to explore the origins of the universe, livable planets and other issues of interest to discover and know more things”, Zhou said.

Editor: James Boynton