China on Monday moved a step closer to establish its permanent space station by 2022 as it launched a spacecraft carrying two astronauts, in its longest-ever manned space mission, who would later join its second experimental space lab orbiting the Earth. (Ju Zhenhua/Xinhua via AP) In this photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, the Long March-2F carrier rocket carrying China's Shenzhou 11 spacecraft blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, northwest China's Gansu Province, Monday, Oct. 17, 2016. Lei Fanpei, chairman of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), recently said China plans to launch the experimental core module of its space station around 2018 with a Long March-5 heavy load carrier rocket, and the 20 ton combination space station will be sent into orbit around 2022. About 19 minutes after the 7.30am blast-off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert in Gansu province, the mission was declared a success by Zhang Youxia, commander-in-chief of China’s manned space programme. China, Russia and the United States are the only countries that have independently launched humans into space, and while the others have more experience in manned space travel, China’s military-backed program has made methodical progress in comparatively short time. The “taikonauts”, as they are called in China, will dock with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, or “Heavenly Palace 2”, which was sent into space last month.At 30 days, it will be the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts, the Xinhua news agency reported. “I announce the launch of Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft is a complete success.”

The two member crew on the spacecraft includes veteran astronaut Jing Haipeng, who flew on Shenzhou-7 in 2008 and Shenzhou-9 in 2012, as well as newbie astronaut Chen Dong who is making his first spaceflight. “Although the job is challenging, risky and dangerous, there is nothing more I would rather do,” Jing, who is commander of this mission, told reporters on Sunday. China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, becoming only the third country after Russia and the U.S. to do so, and has since staged a spacewalk and landed its Yutu rover on the moon. The space lab was launched as part of China’s efforts to set up its own manned space station by 2022, which will make it the only the country to have such a facility in service as the current in-service International Space Station (ISS) retires by 2024.
China launches Shenzhou 11, the country's sixth manned spaceflight mission and the first one to the Tiangong-2 space laboratory, with two taikonauts on a 30-day mission.