China launched the Shenzhou-18 manned spaceship on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced.
A Long March-2F carrier rocket carrying the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft with three Chinese astronauts blasted off at 8:59 p.m. Beijing Time.
About 10 minutes later, the spacecraft separated from the rocket and entered the planned orbit. The spacecraft will conduct autonomous, fast rendezvous and docking with the space station. The Shenzhou-18 crew will conduct in-orbit rotation with the Shenzhou-17 crew.
The mission is China’s first manned mission to the space station this year, the third since the space station entered application and development phase, China’s 32nd manned flight into space, and the 518th flight mission of the Long March series rockets.
The mission marks China’s 13th manned spaceflight mission since the launch of the manned space program and represents the first manned mission to the China Space Station this year.
The three-member crew is scheduled to stay at the China Space Station for about six months and return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in late October.
