Liftoff Videos

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Cai Xuzhe

Cai Xuzhe speaking at a podium during a press event.

Photo: 中国新闻网（chinanews.com） / CC BY 4.0

Cai Xuzhe is a Chinese taikonaut of the People’s Liberation Army Astronaut Corps, born in 1976 in Hebei province. He was a fighter pilot and was selected as an astronaut in 2010. He flew on Shenzhou 14 in 2022, spending 182 days on the Tiangong space station and making two spacewalks. He returned to Tiangong on 29 October 2024 as commander of Shenzhou 19. On 17 December 2024 he and Song Lingdong made the longest spacewalk in human history, 9 hours and 6 minutes. After six months in space he returned to Earth on 30 April 2025, having made five spacewalks across his career.

Born
1 May 1976
Country
People's Republic of China
Flights
2: Shenzhou 14 (2022), Shenzhou 19 (2024)

Data as of 2 November 2026. Source: Wikidata (CC0). All people who have flown in space.

Events

  • Tiangong space station

    The Tiangong space station, China's crewed orbital outpost, has been in orbit since 2021 and its mission is still in progress.

    2 videos
    • Astrum
    • Mystral

Videos on this topic

The videos, in date order

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  1. Tiangong vs ISS: Why China’s Smaller Station Carries More Payload

    Mystral
Play video: Tiangong vs ISS: Why China’s Smaller Station Carries More Payload

Tiangong vs ISS: Why China’s Smaller Station Carries More Payload

Mystral

Duration 34:48

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Dates are when each video was first published on YouTube.

All the videos

  1. Tiangong vs ISS: Why China’s Smaller Station Carries More Payload

    Mission explainerMystral · 34:48

    Mission: Tiangong space station

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