China launches second crewed mission to build space station

China on Saturday launched a rocket carrying three astronauts, including one woman, to the core module of a future space station where they will live and work for six months, the longest-ever duration in orbit for Chinese astronauts.

A Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft blasted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu at 12:23 am Beijing time (16:23 GMT on Friday). Shenzhou-13 is the second of four crewed missions needed to complete the space station by the end of 2022.

China began construction of the space station in April with the launch of Tianhe – the first and largest of the station’s three modules. Tianhe will be the living quarters of the completed space station.

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