SHAFAQNA- China on Tuesday (30 May 2023) launched a rocket carrying three astronauts to its space station to replace three astronauts aboard the ship since November as Beijing aims to become a major space power.
According to kyodonews, the China Manned Space Agency announced that the Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China’s Gansu Province at 9:31 a.m. The spacecraft later successfully docked with the space station, China’s official news agency Xinhua said.
The three male astronauts, including the country’s first civilian astronauts, will conduct spacewalks and science experiments and technology verification during their five-month stay at the Tiangong space station, which was completed late last year.
The T-shaped space station with two laboratory modules is supposed to host scientific experiments from 17 countries, including Japan, Germany, Italy, Poland and Switzerland.
Also stated, In July, a team from the University of Tokyo, along with a team from China’s Tsinghua University, will begin testing rocket engines in the zero-gravity environment on the space station, according to sources close to the matter.
According to state media, the next manned mission, Shenzhou-17, will take place in October and three astronauts will witness its arrival during their stay.
Source: kyodonews
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