China on Thursday successfully launched the Shenzhou-20 spaceship, sending another three astronauts on their way to the orbiting Tiangong space station where they will begin a six-month mission.
The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off at 17:17 (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The launch was later declared a complete success by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The Shenzhou-20 crew consists of experienced mission commander Chen Dong, and astronauts Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie, who are both making debut their spaceflights. A send-off ceremony was held earlier on Thursday for the three astronauts before they left for the launch site.
About 10 minutes after the launch, the Shenzhou-20 spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit, said the CMSA.
The next key stage will come around 6.5 hours after the launch, when the spaceship will perform a fast, automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.
Shenzhou-20 is the 35th flight mission of China's manned space program, and the fifth crewed mission during the application and development stage of China's space station.
The crew is scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China in late October this year.
China successfully launches Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship
China successfully launches Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship
