On the 20th, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission decided to award Zhang Lu the "Second-Class Spaceflight Merit Medal," and to confer upon Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang the honorary title of "Hero Astronaut" along with the "Third-Class Spaceflight Merit Medal."
On October 31, 2025, the Shenzhou 21 manned spacecraft was successfully launched. Astronauts Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang piloted the spacecraft and smoothly entered the Tianhe core module, where they stayed in orbit for 7 months. They carried out three spacewalks, completed over 110 tasks for the space station’s construction, upgrades, maintenance and repairs, conducted a series of scientific experiments and technical trials in space, and safely returned on May 29, 2026. The Shenzhou 21 manned mission marks the sixth manned flight in China’s space station application and development phase, set a new record for the fastest rendezvous and docking of a Shenzhou spacecraft with the space station, and broke the record for the longest on-orbit stay by a single Chinese astronaut crew. This signifies a new stride in China’s space program towards high-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening.
The decision pointed out that the complete success of the Shenzhou 21 manned mission embodies the wisdom and efforts of the vast numbers of scientific and technological workers, astronauts, staff members, and officers and soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army. Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang are outstanding representatives among them.
According to the decision, Zhang Lu returned to space as commander after an interval of two years and has now completed seven extravehicular activities, setting a new national record for the most spacewalks by a Chinese astronaut. Wu Fei, making his maiden flight, performed three spacewalks and became China’s youngest flight engineer to carry out a manned mission. Zhang Hongzhang, as a payload specialist, was honorably selected for the Shenzhou 21 crew and excellently completed a series of space application experiments. To commend their outstanding contributions to China's manned space program, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission decided to award Zhang Lu the "Second-Class Spaceflight Merit Medal" and to confer upon Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang the honorary title of "Hero Astronaut" along with the "Third-Class Spaceflight Merit Medal."