First Hong Kong astronaut launches into space onboard Chinese mission

The 43-year-old police officer and mother of three serves as the team's payload scientist.

Lai Ka-ying, a Hong Kong police superintendent and tech specialist, becomes Hong Kong's first astronaut aboard the Shenzhou-23 mission to the Tiangong space station.

China successfully launches the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, marking the first time an astronaut from Hong Kong has traveled into space.

Lai Ka-ying, a Hong Kong police officer and mother of three, embarks on her first space mission as China's first female civilian astronaut from Hong Kong.

China launches the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, including Hong Kong's first astronaut, as part of its plan to send humans to the moon by 2030.