Li Jiaying: China launches first Hong Kong astronaut into space

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

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Li Jiaying, a 43-year-old police officer and mother of three, serves as the payload scientist in the three-member crew who made their way to China's Tiangong space station on Sunday night.

At least one member of the crew will spend a full year in orbit as part of a key experiment. Authorities will determine who that will be at a later date.

The mission is the latest in China's ambitious space program to send humans to the moon by 2030. It comes amid an accelerating race with the US, which is looking to achieve a crewed lunar landing by 2028.

The Shenzhou-23 is tasked with studying the effects of microgravity on the human body, among many experiments.