China launches first three-man crew to new space station

A Long March-2F Y12 rocket carrying a crew of Chinese astronauts in a Shenzhou-12 spaceship lifts off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-western China on Thursday (Ng Han Guan/AP)

China launched the first three astronauts on a mission to its new space station on Thursday in its first crewed venture in five years.

The three men, already wearing their spacesuits, were seen off by the commander of China’s manned space programme, other uniformed military personnel and a crowd of children waving flowers and flags and singing patriotic songs.