His research interests include spacecraft dynamics, nonlinear control, and estimation theory, with an emphasis on applications to space systems.

[4][5] When Gui Haichao learned in spring 2018 that the Bureau of Human Spaceflight and the Chinese Astronautics Training Center were looking for civilian payload experts in addition to fighter pilots for the use and expansion phase of the Chinese space station,[6] he got in touch immediately.

The official swearing-in ceremony for the new selection group took place on 1 October 2020, the Chinese national holiday.

[8] Gui Haichao, who had previously joined the Chinese Communist Party in July 2020, was now the first civilian taikonaut.

[9][10] Later he was appointed to be a payload specialist on Shenzhou 16 mission in June 2022,[10] thus becoming the first Chinese civilian of Group 3 in space on 30 May 2023.