China launches manned rocket to space station

China on Thursday launched the Shenzhou-18 manned spaceship to send three male astronauts to its orbiting space station for a six-month mission, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off at 8:59 p.m. (1259 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, it said. About 10 minutes after the launch, the Shenzhou-18 spaceship separated from the rocket and entered its designated orbit. The crew members are in good shape and the launch is a "complete success," the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced. While in orbit, the Shenzhou-18 spaceship is scheduled to make a fast, automated rendezvous and docking with the space station combination. The Shenzhou-18 crew will rotate with the Shenzhou-17 crew in orbit. The crew will utilize the scientific experiment cabinets and extravehicular payloads to carry out more than 90 experiments in the fields of basic physics in microgravity, space material science, space life science, space medi cine and space technology, according to the CMSA. Source: Kuwait News Agency