Shenzhou-19 astronauts start journey to China's space station for new endeavors

China launched the Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship on Wednesday, sending three astronauts -- including the country's first female space engineer -- to its orbiting space station for a six-month mission.

The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off at 4:27 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, said the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

About 10 minutes after the launch, the Shenzhou-19 spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. The crew members are in good shape and the launch is a complete success, the CMSA announced.

The spaceship will then perform a fast, automated rendezvous and docking with the front port of the space station core module Tianhe in about 6.5 hours, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

The Shenzhou-19 crewed spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, is launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Oct. 30, 2024.

The Shenzhou-19 crew consists of mission commander Cai Xuzhe, and astronauts Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze.

Cai is a seasoned astronaut who previously journeyed into orbit on the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022. With this ongoing mission, he set a new record for the shortest interval between two spaceflights for Chinese astronauts.

Song and Wang, part of the third batch of Chinese astronauts, are newcomers to space, both born in the 1990s.

Wang is currently China's only female space engineer and the third Chinese woman participating in a crewed spaceflight mission, the agency noted.

Source: http://english.scio.gov.cn

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