A long March-2F carrier rocket carrying the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft and crew of three astronauts lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. AFP/Adek Berry
BEIJING - Three Chinese astronauts including the country's only woman spaceflight engineer blasted off on a "dream" mission to the Tiangong space station in the early hours of Wednesday.
The new Tiangong team will carry out experiments with an eye to the space programme's ambitious goal of placing astronauts on the Moon by 2030 and eventually constructing a lunar base.
The Shenzhou-19 mission took off with its trio of space explorers at 4.27am from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, state news agency Xinhua and state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Among the crew is Wang Haoze, China's only female spaceflight engineer, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). She is the third Chinese woman to take part in a crewed mission.
"Like everyone else, I dream of going to the space station to have a look," Wang told a media gathering Tuesday alongside her fellow crew members, lined up behind podiums and tall panes of glass to seal them off from the public.
"I want to meticulously complete each task and protect our home in space," she said.
"I also want to travel in deep space and wave at the stars."
The space agency deemed the launch a "complete success", Xinhua said Wednesday, adding that about 10 minutes after taking off, the spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit.
Xinhua said the spaceship would later perform a "fast, automated rendezvous and docking with the front port of the space station core module Tianhe" to combine three modules and three spacecraft.
Headed by Cai Xuzhe, the team will return to Earth in late April or early May next year, CMSA Deputy Director Lin Xiqiang said at a separate press event ahead of the launch.
Cai, a 48-year-old former air force pilot, brings experience from a previous stint aboard Tiangong as part of the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022.
"Having been selected for the new crew, taking on a new role, facing new tasks and new challenges, I feel the honour of my mission with a great responsibility," said Cai.
The aerospace veteran added that the crew was now "fully prepared mentally, technically, physically and psychologically" for the mission ahead.
Completing the astronaut lineup is 34-year-old man Song Lingdong.
The crew currently aboard the Tiangong space station is scheduled to return to Earth on November 4 after completing handover procedures with the incoming astronauts, Lin said.