China launched the Wentian lab module from tropical Hainan Island. Photo: Li Gang/Xinhua via AP
CHINA: China has launched one of two laboratory modules to complete its permanent orbiting space station.
The Wentian was launched from Hainan Island on Sunday, watched by a large crowd of amateur photographers and space enthusiasts.
Designed for science and biology experiments, the module lifted off on the Long March 5B remote 3 rocket, and spent roughly eight minutes in flight before it entered orbit, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
A second lab module, called the Mengtian, is due to be launched in October, and both will join the Tiangong space station.
Three astronauts who are already residing in the core module will supervise the lab's entry and docking.
This is the third launch of the Chinese space station since it started to be built. The crewed spacecraft Shenzhou-14 and Tianzhou-class freight spacecraft came before it.
The People's Liberation Army, a branch of the Communist Party in power, is in charge of China's space programme, which led the US to ban it from the International Space Station.
As a result, China had to primarily carry out its Tiangong space station programme alone. Before beginning the most recent iteration, China built and then abandoned two experimental stations.
According to the state-owned Global Times, the 23-ton lab module is heavier than any other single-module spaceship that is currently in orbit.
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