China launched the Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship on Wednesday, sending three astronauts — including the country's first female space engineer — to its orbiting space station for a six-month mission.
The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off at 4:27 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, said the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
About 10 minutes after the launch, the Shenzhou-19 spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. The crew members, consisting of mission commander Cai Xuzhe and crew members Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, are in good shape and the launch is a complete success, the CMSA announced.
The spaceship will then perform a fast, automated rendezvous and docking with the front port of the space station core module Tianhe in about 6.5 hours, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.
Shenzhou-19 is the 33rd flight mission of China's manned space program, and the fourth manned mission during the application and development stage of China's space station.
CCTV/REUTERS VIDEO