[1][2] Li launched on the Shenzhou 18 mission to the Tiangong space station.

[3][4] Li Cong was born in a rural village in Fengfeng Mining District in Handan, Hebei in October 1989.

[6][7][8] He applied for recruitment of Air Force Aviation University when he was in third year of high school.

[7][3][9][10] He was enlisted in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in September 2009, and joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in June 2011.

[7][11][12][4][13] Li once served as the lieutenant colonel of a flying brigade of the Air Force Aviation Brigade and was second class pilot in the People's Liberation Army Air Force.