China launches Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship

(ECNS) -- China's Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship blasted off at 9:31 a.m. Beijing time on Tuesday morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The spaceship separated from the Long March-2F carrier rocket about 10 minutes after the launch and entered the planned orbit.

Three astronauts -- Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao -- would be sent to China's space station combination for a five-month mission.

They will witness the dockings of the Tianzhou-5 cargo craft and the Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship, as well as the departures of the Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship and Tianzhou-5. 

The three astronauts will conduct large-scale in-orbit tests and experiments as planned. They are expected to make high-level scientific achievements in the study of novel quantum phenomena, high-precision space time-frequency systems, the verification of general relativity, and the origin of life.