Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe, 48, a native of Hebei province, is the mission commander of the Shenzhou XIX spaceflight.

Cai became a member of the PLA Air Force in September 1995. He had served as a commander of a fighter jet squadron and became a first-grade aviator.

Cai was selected as one of the PLA Astronaut Division's second-generation astronauts in May 2010.

He was a member of the backup crew for the Shenzhou XIII mission.

In June 2022, Cai started his first space expedition-the six-month Shenzhou XIV mission, becoming one of the third group of inhabitants of the Tiangong space station.

In March 2023, he was given the honorary title "Heroic Astronaut" and was awarded with a Third-grade Space Service Medal.

Cai is now a first-grade astronaut at the PLA Astronaut Division.