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China’s Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship blasts off to national orbital outpost

The spaceship was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China using the Long March-2F

BEIJING, May 30. /TASS/. China’s Shenzhou-16 spaceship with three astronauts on board blasted off early on Tuesday to the country’s space station, Xinhua news agency reported.

The spaceship was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China using the Long March-2F carrier rocket at 9:31 a.m. Beijing time (1:31 a.m. GMT). China’s national television broadcaster, Central Television (CCTV), aired the launch of the spaceship.

The spaceship was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China using the Long March-2F carrier rocket at 9:31 a.m. Beijing time (1:31 a.m. GMT). China’s national television broadcaster, Central Television (CCTV), aired the launch of the spaceship.

Three people aboard Shenzhou-16 are Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao and they are scheduled to spend about five month aboard the national space station returning back home in November.

According to Xinhua, "the Shenzhou-16 astronauts will conduct large-scale in-orbit tests and experiments in various fields as planned. They are expected to make high-level scientific achievements in the study of novel quantum phenomena, high-precision space time-frequency systems, the verification of general relativity, and the origin of life."

The Chinese news agency also reported that the space crew of Shenzou-16 "will witness the dockings of the Tianzhou-5 cargo craft and the Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship, as well as the departures of the Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship and Tianzhou-5."

The Chinese space station is currently at the altitude of about 400 kilometers (over 248.5 miles) and is intended to stay operational in orbit for more than 10 years. It’s designed for three people.

In April 2021, China orbited the core module of its national space station. Three crewmembers of the Shenzhou-12 manned spacecraft worked aboard the national space station from June 17 to September 16. Over this period, the taikonauts (the name of spaceflight participants accepted in China) made two spacewalks to assemble equipment.

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