Tang was born in a rural village in Dingxi, Gansu, northwest China to a family of farmers in December 1989. Since childhood, Tang had been indulging in activities needed to become a taikonaut. He graduated from Air Force Aviation University in 2012. He is a fourth-level astronaut in the Astronaut Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and is a first class PLA Air Force pilot since 13 years.[5] He once served as the captain of a flying squadron of a certain brigade of the Air Force Aviation Corps, and was thus selected in PLAAF.[6][7] During this time, he flew six different aircraft and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the PLAAF.[3][8][9]
In September 2020, as an aerospace flight engineer, he was selected in third taikonaut group.[10][11] He went through strenuous astronaut training like underwater training for EVAs which he cleared off successfully. Tang appreciates photographing. Two years later in June 2022, he was selected as the crew for the manned mission of Shenzhou 17 as an operator. He flew to Tiangong Space Station on Shenzhou-17 on 26 October 2023 and docked later on the same day.[12] As of now, Tang Shengjie is youngest taikonaut in space.[3][13]
