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China on Sunday launched a rocket carrying three astronauts on a mission to complete the construction of its new space station, the final milestone in Beijing’s bid to become a major space power.
The trio launched a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan launch site in northwest China’s Gobi Desert, state broadcaster CCTV said, while the team will stay six months to expand the Tiangong space station.
Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace”, is expected to become fully operational by the end of the year.
China’s highly promoted space program has already landed a rover on Mars and send probes to the Moon.
The Shenzhou-14 crew is tasked with “completing orbit assembly and building the space station,” as well as “commissioning equipment” and conducting scientific experiments, the state-run CGTN said on Saturday.
Led by Air Force pilot Chen Dong, 43, the main challenge for the three-person crew will be to connect the station’s two laboratory modules to the main body.
Dong, along with other pilots Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, will become the second crew to spend six months aboard the Tiangong after last returning to Earth in April after 183 days at the space station.
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