Launched on April 25, 2024, close to the conclusion of the Shenzhou 17 mission, Shenzhou 18 is a Chinese spacecraft to the Tiangong space station. It was a Shenzhou spacecraft carrying three taikonauts. The mission represents the eighteenth flight of the Shenzhou program overall and the thirteenth crewed spaceflight in China.Shenzhou 18 was launched before Shenzhou 17—the preceding mission—was finished. As is customary for Shenzhou missions to Tiangong, it is scheduled to last roughly six months.At 20:59 Beijing Time (UTC+8) (12:59 UTC), the mission was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center aboard a Long March 2F rocket. On April 25, 2024, at 19:32 UTC, the Shenzhou spacecraft docked at the station's Tianhe core module's nadir port, taking about six and a half hours.