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According to the party newspaper People’s Daily (人民日报), China’s state leadership has decided to honor astronaut Zhang Lu (张陆) with the “Second-Class Medal for Outstanding Service in Spaceflight” (二级航天功勋奖章). The notice, published on the party portal cpc.people.com.cn, explicitly commends his achievements during the crewed Shenzhou 15 mission.
Zhang Lu was part of the Shenzhou 15 crew, which launched to the Tiangong space station in autumn 2022 and remained there for about six months. During his stay, the crew conducted several spacewalks and was instrumental in completing the station’s three-module configuration – a historic milestone, as it officially marked the end of construction of China’s space station.
The award is part of a series of high state honors that the leadership regularly bestows on astronauts after successful missions. It also reflects official recognition of the crewed spaceflight program (CMSA), which has been expanded step by step since China’s first crewed flight in 2003 with Yang Liwei and now operates Tiangong as a permanently staffed station in low Earth orbit.