China launched on Thursday the Shenzhou-17 human-crewed space mission from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwest of the country.
Shenzhou-17 is China's 12th manned space flight and carries a three-member crew to the Tiangong space station.
Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, and Jiang Xinlin will replace a crew that has been on the station for six months.
