JIUQUAN, China (AP) — China declared a “complete success” after it launched a new three-person crew to its orbiting space station early Wednesday as the country…
China declared a “complete success” after it launched a new three-person crew to its orbiting space station early Wednesday as the country seeks to expand its exploration of outer space with missions to the moon and beyond.
The Shenzhou-19 spaceship carrying the trio blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 4:27 a.m. local time atop a Long March-2F rocket, the backbone of China’s crewed space missions.
“The crew condition is good and the launch has been successful,” the state broadcaster China Central Television announced.
China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, mainly because of U.S. concerns over the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese Communist Party’s military arm’s overall control over the space program. China’s moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the U.S. and others, including Japan and India.
