China declared on Thursday the successful launch of the crewed spacecraft Shenzhou-12, which is expected to send three astronauts to its space station core module Tianhe for a three-month mission.
The spacecraft, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi Desert.
It is China's seventh crewed mission to space and the first during the construction of China's space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). It is also the first in nearly five years after the country's last manned mission.
Produced by Xinhua Global Service
