China has launched the first crewed mission to its new space station, marking a major milestone in its ambitious space program. The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft was launched on Thursday, May 4th, with three astronauts on board, including the first female Chinese astronaut to visit space in five years.

The mission is part of China’s plan to complete its own space station by 2022 and become a major player in space exploration. The country has already sent a number of unmanned missions to space, including the Chang’e lunar exploration program and the Tianwen-1 Mars mission.

The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft will dock with the core module of the space station, which was launched in April, and the astronauts will stay on board for six months, conducting a range of scientific experiments and testing the station’s systems.

The launch was a major event in China, with crowds gathering to watch the liftoff from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. The success of the mission has been seen as a major step forward for China’s space program, which has faced setbacks in the past, including a failed launch in 2020.

(Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61366162)