The Changzheng-2F carrier rocket with the Shenzhou-13 manned spacecraft launched to the Chinese orbital station with three cosmonauts. This is on Friday, October 15, follows from the broadcast of the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA), carried out by China Central Television.
The launch was carried out from the Jiuquan cosmodrome in the north of the country at 00:23 on Saturday, October 16, local time (19:25 Moscow time on October 15).
According to the deputy head of the Manned Space Flight Program of the People's Republic of China Lin Xiqiang, during this mission, astronauts will make two or three spacewalks, as well as carry out a number of scientific experiments.
"We believe that after the construction of the Chinese orbital station is completed and we begin its operation, cosmonauts from other countries will take part in our program," TASS quotes the specialist as saying.
This manned launch is the second in the current year. The astronauts will stay in orbit twice as long as the previous time - six months.
On September 17, China Central Television reported that the descent capsule of the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft landed at the Dongfeng test site in northern China with three astronauts on board.
The ship undocked from the Chinese Tiangong orbital station for the return to Earth of three astronauts - Nie Haisheng, Liu Bomin and Tang Hongbo. During the three months of work, the astronauts went into space twice.
