Three Chinese astronauts blast off for Tiangong space station

JIUQUAN, China – A Chinese rocket carrying three astronauts to the country’s space station blasted off from its remote launch site on April 24, the latest milestone in Beijing’s race to become a leading celestial power.

Beijing has pumped billions of dollars into its space programme in recent years in an effort to achieve what President Xi Jinping describes as the Chinese people’s “space dream”.

The world’s second-largest economy has bold plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by the end of the decade and eventually build a base on the lunar surface.

The launch of the Shenzhou-20 mission on April 24 is intended to ferry a team of three astronauts to China’s Tiangong space station.

The Long March-2F rocket lifted into the air in a plume of flame and smoke at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Base in the desert of northwest China, AFP journalists saw, heralding the start of the six-month mission.

Leading the newest crew is Chen Dong, 46, a former fighter pilot and veteran space explorer who in 2022 became the first Chinese astronaut to clock up more than 200 cumulative days in orbit.

The other two crew members – 40-year-old former air force pilot Chen Zhongrui, and 35-year-old former space technology engineer Wang Jie – are embarking on their first space flight.

Hundreds of people brandishing bouquets and miniature national flags packed into the streets of the space base hours before the launch to see the astronauts off on the afternoon of April 24.

A band played a rousing military march as the trio, clad in white spacesuits, waved in front of a red banner proclaiming: “Learn from our astronauts! Salute our astronauts!”

“We wish you success!” the crowd shouted in unison as the crew members passed.

Live images on state television then showed