China successfully launched a spaceship Thursday morning carrying three astronauts to the country's first space station under construction, as President Xi Jinping has pledged to make the Asian nation a space power in the next 10 years.
The spaceship docked with the space station, over six hours after it left Earth. The astronauts are slated to remain in orbit for three months while they work on spacewalks and other activities -- the first manned mission during the space station's construction.
In April, China launched the core module for the space station. Xi has been apparently aiming to boost national prestige by transporting the astronauts to it ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Communist Party in July.
About 30 minutes after liftoff, China declared the Shenzhou-12 spaceship, or "Divine Vessel," had launched successfully with the three astronauts belonging to the People's Liberation Army on board.
The latest mission is China's first manned space flight in around five years. It plans to continue sending modules to complete the construction of the space station by the end of 2022 as it looks to develop new materials and promote the study of bioscience.
The Long March-2F rocket with the Shenzhou-12 spaceship atop blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China's northwest province of Gansu at 9:22 a.m., Beijing time, carrying three astronauts, Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo.
The Shenzhou-12 spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its planned orbit later Thursday. The astronauts are in good condition, China Global Television Network reported.
The three, who entered the core module on Thursday night, are likely to set a new record for a manned space mission by a Chinese crew, exceeding the 33 days by the Shenzhou-11 crew in 2016, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Nie and Liu, veterans in their 50s, as well as Tang, 45, who is on his first space mission, will have multiple tasks, including helping assemble the space station, conducting extravehicular activities with robot arms and in-orbit maintenance, CGTN said.
They will be stationed in the core module, equipped with bedrooms, bathrooms and treadmills. More than 120 kinds of space foods are reportedly available on the station, called Tiangong, or "Heavenly Palace."
The total length of the core module of the station is 16.6 meters, about the height of a five-story building. With a maximum diameter of 4.2 meters, it is more spacious than a train or subway carriage, Xinhua said.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters, "I witnessed the exciting historical moment in front of the television."
"China will continue to increase the depth and breadth of international cooperation and exchanges and will make the Chinese station a space laboratory for the benefit of all mankind," he added.
The state-run network broadcasted the three astronauts waving their hands with smiles inside the spaceship.
Chinese media quoted one of the astronauts as saying, "We have entered the core module, our home in space. We appreciate support from all the people in the nation and efforts by technologists."
Bill Nelson, administrator for the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said in a statement, "Congratulations to China on the successful launch of crew to their space station! I look forward to the scientific discoveries to come."
As the Communist-led government has been steadily moving forward with space development projects in recent years, expectations are growing that competition between China and the United States will intensify in the field.
Late last year, an unmanned Chinese space probe returned to Earth with the first lunar soil samples in 44 years as China became the third country to bring back material from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union, Russia's predecessor.
Also, last month, China started probing the surface of Mars, becoming the second nation to undertake a mission on the red planet after the United States.
China launched its first manned spacecraft in 2003, making it the third country to put a man in space after the United States and the Soviet Union.
Meanwhile, the International Space Station, operated by the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and the European Space Agency, is set to conclude its mission in 2024. China would become the only nation to have its own space station in the future.
Concerns, however, are mounting over China's space technology across the globe. When a large Chinese rocket, which carried the core module of the space station, re-entered Earth's atmosphere in May, debris fell into the Indian Ocean near the Maldives.
The United States criticized the Chinese government for not fully managing the rocket's return to the atmosphere.
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China launches core module of its 1st space station: Xinhua
