Yang Liwei, China's first man in space, will visit Hong Kong next week along with his space capsule.
Colonel Yang will arrive on Friday for a four-day visit, take part in a number of seminars on the nation's space programme and tour the city.
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa announced yesterday the central government had approved the visit by Colonel Yang, who became a national hero after his safe return to Earth from China's first manned space trip last week.
'It's a golden opportunity for the entire Hong Kong community to celebrate this achievement,' Mr Tung said.
'I also hope that astronaut Yang will be left with a good impression of Hong Kong and the visit will be a very successful one.'
A team of 30 top space scientists and engineers will accompany Colonel Yang on the visit. The re-entry capsule of the spacecraft Shenzhou V, its parachute, Colonel Yang's spacesuit and meals created for space travellers will also be put on display at the Science Museum on November 1.