China to send first civilian astronaut to space

Gui Haichao, a payload specialist, becomes first Chinese civilian to be on a spaceflight.

He will go on the Shenzhou XVI mission together with Major General Jing Haipeng, who will be on his fourth mission, and Zhu Yangzhu, as the three-member Shenzhou XVI crew was announced on Monday.

They will set out for space station at 9:31 am on Tuesday.

Until now, all of the Chinese astronauts who have been on spaceflights are members of the People's Liberation Army.

They are of the first two generations of astronauts who were selected from experienced Air Force aviators.