BEIJING: China sent three astronauts to its permanently inhabited space station on Thursday, in its 15th crewed spaceflight and the 20th overall in the Shenzhou program that started over three decades ago.
The spacecraft Shenzhou-20 and the crew lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China at 5:17pm (0917 GMT), according to state broadcaster CCTV.
State news agency Xinhua reported soon afterwards that the launch was successful.
The launch comes as China's advances in lunar and space exploration are drawing in more countries.
Pakistan is carrying out a preliminary selection of astronauts, one of whom will eventually be sent to space on a future Shenzhou spaceflight and become the first foreign astronaut to enter China's Tiangong space station.
Echidnas evolved from water-dwelling mammals in a rare evolutionary shift, say researchers
New update in Meta's messaging app will connect users across devices without the need to switch platforms
Meta's instant messaging app's improved voice note feature will be rolled out to more users in coming weeks
Personal Information Protection Commission to issue corrective recommendation for removal of AI prompt content
Meta AI assistant is built into WhatsApp and remains visible by default
Man was between 26 and 35 years old at the time of his death
