China launches 3 astronauts to complete space station

BEIJING (AP) — China launched a rocket Tuesday carrying three astronauts to complete construction of the country's permanent orbiting space station.

The crew of the Shenzhou-15 will overlap for several days with the 3-member crew already onboard the Tiangong station, who will then return to Earth after their six-month mission.

Their spaceship blasted off atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert at 11:08 p.m. Tuesday.

The six-month mission, commanded by Fei Junlong and crewed by Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, will be the last in the construction phase of China’s space station, according to the China Manned Space Agency.