China Launches First Crewed Mission for Space Station Construction

On June 17， China successfully launched the crewed spacecraft Shenzhou-12， which sent three astronauts to its space station core module Tianhe for a three-month mission.

It is Chinas seventh crewed mission to space and the first during the construction of Chinas space station.

The spacecraft， atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket， was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest Chinas Gobi Desert at 9：22 a.m. （Beijing Time）， according to the China Manned Space Agency. About 573 seconds after the launch， Shenzhou-12 separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. The three astronauts are expected to set a new record for Chinas manned space mission duration， exceeding the 33 days kept by the Shenzhou-11 crew in 2016.

China launched its space station core module Tianhe on April 29 and cargo craft Tianzhou-2 on May 29. The two completed a computer-orchestrated rendezvous and docking on May 30， waiting for the first crewed mission to unpack the cargo.

Astronauts Nie Haisheng （middle）， Liu Boming （right） and Tang Hongbo wave during a see-off ceremony for Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-12 manned space mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on June 17， 2021.

Screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on June 17， 2021 shows Chinas Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship successfully docking with the space station core module Tianhe.

Screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on June 17， 2021 shows three Chinese astronauts onboard the Shenzhou-12 spaceship entering the space station core module Tianhe.