China on Tuesday launched a spacecraft with a three-person crew to its under-construction space station amid intensifying competition with the United States. The Shenzhou-15 spaceship carrying the aircraft was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China. It carried three astronauts -- Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu. Fei will be the commander of the mission, Ji Qiming, assistant to the director of the CMSA, told the media. The launch was carried out with a Long March-2F carrier rocket. The crew will stay in orbit for about six months, a period in which the construction of the low-orbit space station is expected to be completed.
The significant feature of China's under-construction space station is its two robotic arms, especially the long one over which the US has previously expressed concern
China in a note verbale to the UN has revealed that Space X satellites had two close encounters with China Space Station in the recent past, a media report said
President Xi Jinping spoke to the three astronauts stationed in China's space station and told them that the project is an important milestone in the country's ambitious space exploration programme
China is all set to send the first three crew members to its new space station for three months on Thursday morning
A three-man crew of astronauts will blast off in June for a three-month mission on China's new space station, according to a space official who was the country's first astronaut in orbit
More potential milestones lie ahead. Here's what to know about them
Most of the debris burned up on re-entry Sunday morning, China said. The head of NASA accused it of "failing to meet responsible standards."
Nasa slammed China for failing to meet 'responsible standards' regarding its space debris, hours after remnants of the country's out of control rocket disintegrated over Indian Ocean near the Maldives
Tianwen-1 reached Mars' orbit, Chinese state media reported at 8:57 pm. Beijing time on Wednesday
China says its Tianwen-1 spacecraft has entered orbit around Mars on a mission to land a rover and collect data on underground water and possible signs of ancient life.
It was about 130 million km from Earth and about 8.3 million km from Mars, according to the China National Space Administration
A Chinese lunar capsule returned to Earth Thursday with the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in more than 40 years.
Chinese ground crews are standing by for the return of a lunar probe bringing back the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in more than 45 years
The mission landed on the moon earlier this month and collected about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of samples
A Chinese spacecraft landed on the moon to bring back lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since the 1970s, the government announced
China's Chang'e-5 probe is preparing for a soft landing on the moon to undertake the country's first collection of samples from an extraterrestrial body, it was announced on Monday.
If successful, it could be a blueprint for a Mars sample return or even a crewed lunar mission
The spacecraft was launched on board a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Friday
A multifunctional test satellite and another satellite named Tiantuo-5 were also launched via the rocket