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Beijing, 26 October: China sent a new crew to its Tiangong space station on Thursday as part of a new mission in its growing space program. China plans to send a man to the moon by 2030 as part of the mission.
Senzhou-17 lifted off from the Jiuquan launch site in northwestern China at 11:14 a.m. local time, carrying three astronauts with the youngest average age since the space station was built.
At a farewell ceremony on Thursday morning, the astronauts waved goodbye to observers before leaving to prepare for the rocket launch.
"The rocket carrying the Long March-2F spacecraft took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Center in northwest China," China's state-run Xinhua News Agency said.
The team is led by Tang Hongbo. He is on his first return mission to the space station. He is accompanied by Tang Shengji and Jiang Jinglin. This is their first space mission. The average age of the all-male crew is 38 years. They are the youngest in the mission to the space station.
