06 June 2017
China will begin the process of selecting new astronauts later in 2017, when 10 to 12 candidates - including two female astronauts - will be chosen for the nation's next phase of space exploration, a manned space program official revealed. Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut and also deputy director general of China's manned space program, made the remarks in an interview with Beijing Youth Daily. Yang added that preliminary research and experiments have already been completed. "The first batch of astronauts were all bachelor's degree-holders selected from the PLA Air Force. Now we will give more consideration to aerospace engineers and other experts from broader society. They will more likely be postgraduates," Yang said. In the future, new astronauts will be selected every four years, according to Yang.
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