China on Tuesday launched a rocket with three astronauts on board to its space station – the second inhabited outpost in low Earth orbit to become operational after the NASA-led International Space Station (ISS) – as part of the crew’s first rotation in orbit. from Chinese space history.

The Shenzhou-15, or “Divine Ship,” space capsule carrying a crew of three astronauts and powered by a Long March-2F rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 11:08 p.m. local time (15:08 GMT) on Tuesday. ) at sub-zero temperatures in the Gobi Desert, located in northwestern China, state television reported.

Shenzhou-15 was the last of 11 missions that began in April 2021 (the first three of which were unmanned) to assemble the Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace,” as China’s multi-module space station is called.

The three astronauts will replace the crew of Shenzhou-14, which arrived aboard the space station in early June.

The previous crew members are expected to return to Earth in early December after a week of handover duties, during which the station’s ability to temporarily support six astronauts will also be assessed, another record for China’s space program.

During the six-month mission, the Shenzhou-15 crew will conduct long-duration tests aboard the space station in its current three-module configuration, said Ji Qiming, assistant director of the China Manned Missions Agency (CMSA). during a conference organized on Monday, Xinhua reported.

At the same time, the crew will install and test 15 scientific experiment cabins and conduct more than 40 experiments and tests in space research, medicine and space technology, Ji Qiming said, adding that the crew will also conduct three or four activities outside the ship.

The space outpost assumed its current “T” shape in November with the arrival of the last of three cylindrical modules.

The projected lifespan of the station is at least a decade, and astronauts on board conduct more than a thousand scientific experiments – from studying the adaptation of plants in space to the behavior of liquids in microgravity.

The “Heavenly Palace” is the culmination of nearly two decades of manned space missions by China.

China’s manned space missions began in 2003, when former fighter pilot Yang Liwei was sent into orbit in the small bronze Shenzhou-5 capsule, becoming the first man from the country to reach space and a hero to millions of Chinese. .

The space station is both a testament to China’s growing influence and confidence in its space efforts and a challenge to US dominance in the space after being isolated from the ISS and after the US banned by law any direct or indirect cooperation between US space agencies. and China, Reuters notes. (Source: Agerpres)