China rocket launch fires three astronauts to satellite amid fears of new space race

has successfully launched three astronauts into on a mission to re-staff its in-orbit space station. Staff who work at the launch site as well as some of their families and other members of the public gathered in organised lines to watch the rocket take-off.

The launch of China's Shenzhou-20 is being seen as a ramping up of a tense space race between and China to create bases on the moon, and from there, lift off to Mars. The far side of the moon is an increasingly popular destination. Images show the three astronauts - or taikonauts as they are called in China - waving to adoring crowds and onlookers at the aunch event this morning.

The Shenzhou 20 mission’s astronauts are Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie, Lin Xiqiang, deputy director general of Manned Space Agency, said. They will replace three astronauts currently on the Chinese space station. The launch took place from Jiuquan, on the edge of the Gobi Desert, in northwestern China.

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Like those before them, they will stay there for roughly six months. The three-person crew were sent in October last year and have been in space for 175 days, said Lin.

Chen Dong, who previously served on the Shenzhou 11 and Shenzhou 14 missions, is the group leader, while his two crewmates will be making their first trips to space. Chen Zhongrui was an air force pilot and Wang Jie, an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Corporation.

"According to the plan, this mission will involve complex extravehicular activities, delicate experimental operations, and daily maintenance and repairs," Chen Dong said. "We have organised the mission with the idea that only by having more preparations on the ground can we be more confident in space, and only by doing our best on the ground can we respond effectively in space.

"We have ensured that all training time, content, and results are guaranteed. We are confident that we will successfully complete the mission."

While in space, the astronauts will carry out experiments in space medicine, and space technology as well as perform extravehicular trips and making improvements to the space station.

China built its own space station after it was excluded from the owing to US national security concerns over the control of the country’s space program by the People’s Liberation Army, the military branch of the ruling Communist Party.

The superpower's space program has grown rapidly in recent years. The space agency has and a rover on the far side of the moon. It aims before 2030. The returning astronauts are expected to land on April 29.