Space, the 3 Chinese astronauts left for the Tianhe module

(ANSA) - BEIJING, June 17 - The first astronauts for the new Chinese space station have left for the 3-month manned mission, the longest so far developed by Beijing, as a further step towards the status of space power.

    The Long March-2F rocket, with the three astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft, took off at 9:22 am local time (3:22 ​​am in Italy) from the Jiuquan launch center in the Gobi desert.

    It is the first manned Chinese mission since 2016 and the first to reach the new space station, still under development. The astronauts will dock at the main module, called Tianhe. (HANDLE).