China Launches 3 Astronauts to space station

On Sunday, China launched a spacecraft carrying three astronauts to the Chinese space station, which will be completed by the end of the year, as construction has entered a critical stage.

A Long March-2F rocket carrying Shenzhou-14, or "divine ship" in Chinese, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 10:44 a.m. (0244 GMT) via state television.

Construction of the space station began last year with the launch of the first and largest of its three units - the Tianhe - living quarters for incoming astronauts.  The Wentian and Mengtian module will be launched in July and October, respectively, by courier with Tianhe to create a T-shaped structure.

Chen Dong, 43, the commander of the Shinzo 14 mission, and his colleagues Liu Yang, 43, and Kai Xuze, 46, of the second group of Chinese astronauts, will remain at the space station for six months before returning to Earth in December.  It will work.  The arrival of the Shenzhou-15 crew.

Liu, along with former Air Force pilot Chen, who became China's first female astronaut in space a decade ago, and Kai, the first launcher for a space mission, met Vientiane and Mingtian with the core unit, where they oversaw docking and integration.

They will also install instruments inside and outside the space station and conduct various scientific research.

"The Shenzhou 14 mission is a big battle in the construction phase of the Chinese space station," 

Chen said at a press conference in Jiuquan on Saturday. 

"The work will be difficult and there will be more problems and more challenges.”

The space station is designed to last at least ten years.