The launch took place from Gobiöknen at 04.44 on Sunday morning Swedish time.
The Shenzhou 14 expedition will last for six months, when the so-called taikonauts will expand the space station with new modules. The first module, Tianhe, where the residential part is located, was launched last year. According to the plans, the expansion will be completed during the year.
When the next expedition, Shenzhou 15, begins this autumn, the crews’ presence will overlap for a short time, so six people must be able to fit.
The dictatorship of China is not part of the cooperation that led to the International Space Station (ISS), but keeps a high pace in its own space program. It is less than 20 years since Yang Liwei in 2003 became the first to be sent into orbit by the country’s space board.