Chinese astronauts Zhu Yangzhu (R), Zhang Zhiyuan (C) and Li Jiaying attend the send-off ceremony at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, May 24, 2026. Photo: VCG

Lai Ka-ying, the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and a payload specialist for the Shenzhou-23 spaceflight mission, is expected to hold a space-to-Earth dialogue with Hong Kong residents in one to two months, local media reported on Sunday. 

Sun Dong, secretary for Innovation, Technology and lndustry of the HKSAR Government, revealed on Sunday that preparations for a live session of the "Tiangong Class" series in the near future are underway with support from Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and China Manned Space Agency(CMSA). 

Sun said he is confident that Lai, Hong Kong's first female astronaut, will successfully complete the Shenzhou-23 mission, adding that the public has given positive response to the planned space-to-Earth dialogue and details will be announced later, Hong Kong media outlet TVB reported. 

The Shenzhou-23 manned spacecraft launched successfully on May 24, with Lai becoming China's fourth female astronaut in space after Liu Yang, Wang Yaping and Wang Haoze, and the first astronaut from Hong Kong. 

Born in Hong Kong, 43-year-old Lai once served as a tech specialist for Hong Kong police superintendent. In 2022, she applied for China's fourth round of astronaut selection and was selected as China's first Hong Kong-born astronaut in June 2024. 

Yu Guang, an international space affairs expert, said that this arrangement is highly significant because he believes that young people, university students, and even those already in the workforce who see Lai going to space will be greatly inspired. Lai has no background in aerospace field, her experience will inspire many people to pursue space-related aspirations. 

The expert also expects that Lai's participation will be beneficial to China's future efforts to strengthen international exchanges at the astronaut level, Yu told the Global Times on Sunday. 

According to Wang Yanan, editor-in-chief of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, the content of the "Tiangong class" is likely to continue previous sessions. However, the session will allow all Hong Kong residents to feel more vividly that, by leveraging its local strengths in scientific research and education, Hong Kong talent is fully capable of participating in the country's broader space program and playing an important role within it. In this sense. 

Wang said Hong Kong's participation in space station missions could influence local education, with greater emphasis expected on aerospace and astronautical engineering and related talent training programs.

Besides, many scientific research achievements obtained from the space station could leverage Hong Kong's strengths in international collaboration and intellectual property protection, allowing the city to serve as a bridge for commercialization and technology transfer, Wang said. 

Sun also said that Hong Kong will continue to leverage its strengths to serve national needs. He said that many local universities in Hong Kong are already involved in the development of the country's space industry, and Hong Kong will also give greater consideration to planning and deployment in related industries in the future, China Media Group's media channel Radio The Greater Bay reported. 

Sun also said that research personnel from local universities can assist in the development of equipment such as space cameras, and are also participating in future Mars exploration missions. He added that Hong Kong's five-year development plan, which opens for public consultation on Monday, will include arrangements for the development of space technology, local site news.now.com reported on Sunday.