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Added on the 16/06/2021 15:04:16 - Copyright : France 24 EN
The first astronauts for China's new space station blasted off on Thursday for the country's longest crewed mission to date, a major step in establishing Beijing as a leading space power. The Long March-2F rocket carrying three astronauts lifted off at 9:22 am local time (0122 GMT) in a cloud of smoke from the Jiuquan launch centre in the Gobi desert. IMAGES
China sends a fresh crew to its Tiangong space station in the latest mission for a growing space programme that plans to send people to the Moon by 2030. The Shenzhou-17 blasted off from the Jiuquan launch site in arid northwest China at 11:14 am (0314 GMT) Thursday, carrying a three-astronaut team with the youngest average age since the space station's construction. IMAGES
The first astronauts for China's new space station bid farewell at a departure ceremony in Jiuquan before their launch on a Long March-2F rocket for the country's longest crewed mission to date. IMAGES
Astronauts who will be blasting off on Thursday for China's first manned mission to its new space station meet the media. The mission will be China's longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years. IMAGES
A three-man crew from Italy, Russia and the United States blasts off from Kazakhstan for a five-month mission on the International Space Station. IMAGES
China will send its second space lab, Tiangong-2 into space next week, as part of its plan to field a manned space station that is expected to be in service around 2022.