The first manned flight to the Chinese space station takes off

China launched a rocket carrying three astronauts on Thursday, in the first manned mission to the space station being built by Beijing, in a step that is of great importance in its ambitious program to establish itself as a global space power.

Amid a huge mist of smoke, the Long March-2F rocket took off from the missile launch base in the Gobi Desert (northwest China), carrying three astronauts in the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft, who will spend three months at the Tiangong Station, in what will be the longest mission. Manned space for China so far.

This mission comes in light of a tense atmosphere between China and the West, and its success is of great importance to Beijing, which is preparing to celebrate on July 1, the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

China had decided to establish its own manned space base after the United States refused to allow it to participate in the International Space Station.

And the International Space Station, which brings together the United States, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan, will be out of service in 2024, even if the US Space Agency (NASA) has not ruled out extending its life beyond 2028.

The Chinese space station, Tiangong, is scheduled to remain in service for at least ten years.

Shenzhou-12 is supposed to dock with the main unit of the Tiangong Station called Tianhe, which was put into orbit on April 29.

Last month, a cargo vehicle transported fuel, food and equipment in preparation for this manned mission.

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