The spacecraft Shenzhou-17, or "Divine Vessel," lifted off at 11:13 a.m. local time (0313 UTC/GMT) on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, on the edges of China's Gobi Desert.

"The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China," state news agency Xinhua reported.

The six-month mission is headed by Tang Hongbo, 48, a former air force pilot. He was on the first crewed mission to China's Tiangong space station in 2021. Accompanying him are first-time space travelers Tang Shengjie, 33, and Jiang Xinlin, 35. 

Ahead of Thursday morning's launch, the astronauts bid farewell to observers at a send-off ceremony.

En route to Tiangong space station

The crew is the youngest ever to depart for the orbiting Tiangong, or "Sky Palace" space station as part of a China's program to send its "taikonauts" to the lunar surface.

The space station, completed in 2022, can accommodate three astronauts at an orbital altitude of up to 450 km (280 miles).

The astronauts from Shenzhou-17 are set to take over from the Shenzhou-16 team — Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu, and Gui Haichao — who are scheduled to return to Earth on October 31.

Space race

Under President Xi Jinping, China has invested billions of dollars into its military-led space program.

Beijing is planning to place astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade as it competes with the US and Russia for outer space supremacy.

On Wednesday, Beijing announced plans for a new deep-space telescope, although the timeline for installation remains unspecified.

In 2003, China launched its first manned space mission, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the US to put a person into space using its own resources.

rc, ss/js (AFP, AP, Reuters)