A fighter pilot in the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), he was selected to be a CNSA taikonaut in 2010.

[9] The crew landed successfully after the 33 day mission on 18 November 2016, marking China's longest manned space flight to date.

[10] The reentry module of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft landed in Inner Mongolia around 2.15 p.m (China time) after detaching from the space lab on 17 November.

[11] On June 5, 2022, Chen launched about aboard Shenzhou 14 to the Tiangong space station for a mission and stay to last about 6 months.

For his achievements on the Shenzhou 11 mission, Chen was awarded the Spaceflight Merit Medal (Third Class) along with the honorary title of "hero astronaut" on 26 December 2016 by the Central Military Commission.