Shenzhou XIV mission blasts off

[A simulation video of Shenzhou XIV by the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation]

The Shenzhou XIV mission — China's ninth manned spaceflight — launched Sunday morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gobi Desert.

A Long March 2F rocket carrying the spacecraft blasted off at 10:44 am from a service tower inside the oasis-like launch center.

The three crew members – mission commander Senior Colonel Chen Dong, Senior Colonel Liu Yang and Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe – are being sent to the Tiangong space station. They are scheduled to stay there for half a year to complete the assembly of the colossal station.

This is the second time Chen and Liu have ventured into space.

When the crew's mission finishes around the end of this year, the Tiangong station will be fully operational.

The flight of Chen and his teammates is also expected to mark the beginning of a decade where, barring no accidents, there will be Chinese people in outer space every day.