The Long March-2F carrier rocket carrying China’s Shenzhou 14 spacecraft blasts off from the launch pad of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwestern China’s Gansu province.
China on Sunday launched three astronauts to its permanent Tiangong space station to complete assembly work. The trio consists of Commanders Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuze.
Liu is also a space veteran and was China’s first female astronaut to reach space on the Shenzhou 9 mission in 2012, while 46-year-old Kai will be making her first spaceflight. The spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 10:44 a.m. aboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). CMSA announced that the crew members are in good shape and the launch was a complete success.
The crew will work with the ground team to complete the rendezvous, docking and transposition of the two lab modules with the core module, CMSA deputy director Lin Ziqiang said at a news conference on Saturday. Astronauts develop the space station from a single-module structure to a three-module National Space Laboratory. These are the core module Tianhe and the two lab modules Wentian and Mengtian.
The Tianhe core module was launched in April 2021, and the Ventian Lab module is to be launched in July and Mengtian in October. Chen, Liu and Cai will be joined by the crew of the upcoming Shenzhou 15 for three to five days at the end of their mission, with six people aboard the station for the first time.
(with inputs from agency)
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