BEIJING, Apr 20: China launched its first cargo spacecraft today, taking another step towards its goal of establishing a permanently manned space station by 2022.
President Xi Jinping has prioritised advancing China’s space programme to strengthen national security.
The Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft lifted off early evening on a Long March-7 Y2 rocket from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre in the southern island province of Hainan.
State television broadcast the launch live.
The spacecraft is designed to dock with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, or “Heavenly Palace 2”, where two astronauts spent a month last October in China’s longest ever manned space mission.
(Reuters)
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