BEIJING, June 11 (RIA Novosti) – A Chinese spaceship carrying three astronauts blasted off on Tuesday and reached a designated orbit, mission control said.
The Shenzhou-10, China’s fifth manned spacecraft, took off from the Jiuquan launch center in the northwestern province of Gansu.
The three astronauts – two male, one female – will stay in orbit for 15 days and are due to dock twice with the Tiangong-1 space station, in orbit since September 2011.
The Shenzhou-10 is a shuttle craft able to transport astronauts and supplies to orbiting modules.
The mission is designed to test docking and astronaut support technologies, as well as capabilities for the construction of a space platform, Chinese space officials said.
China’s first manned flight into space was in October 2003, aboard the Shenzhou-5.
