Females will be included on the list of Chinese astronauts manning China's space station by 2022.

Astronaut Liu Yang, who is China's first woman in space, said that China would be including females on the list of new recruits for the country's expanding space program, according to the South China Morning Post. These new recruits will be part of the next astronaut intake.

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"There will definitely be women on the space station," Yang said while in Hong Kong on Friday.

Liu was the first Chinese female astronaut sent to outer space in 2012 onboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft. Wang Yaping, China's second female astronaut to venture into space, followed the next year onboard the Shenzhou 10.

China is the third country to have sent women into space with its spacecraft, following the Soviet Union and the United States.

According to Liu, Chinese scientists are currently working to improve the living conditions that spacecraft provide for astronauts in preparation for future manned missions.

Part of these improvements would be to enable astronauts to enjoy better meals, such as porridge.

"Astronauts will be able to enjoy porridge in space," Liu said, noting that one of her companions was craving for it while in outer space.

She added that scientists are also working on developing shower facilities which will be added to the Chinese space station.

The Chairman of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Lei Fanpei said they are planning to launch the space station's core module around 2018 and will be putting the whole space station--complete with a core and two lab modules--in orbit by 2022.