The story
From Mandarin 太空 (tàikōng, “space”) + -naut, modelled after astronaut, cosmonaut, spationaut, etc. The term was coined on 19 May 1998 by Chiew Lee Yih (趙里昱 (Zhào Lǐyù)) from Malaysia, who used it first in newsgroups. Almost simultaneously, Chen Lan coined it for use in the Western media.
First known use, by meaning
- from 1998. A person who travels in space for the Chinese space program; a Chinese astronaut.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.