JIUQUAN SATELLITE LAUNCH CENTER, China (AP) — China launched its youngest-ever crew for its orbiting space station on Thursday as it seeks to put astronauts on the moon before 2030.
Tang is a veteran who led a 2021 space mission for three months.
It built its own space station after it was excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to U.S. concerns over the control of the program by the People’s Liberation Army, the military branch of the ruling Communist Party.
China’s first manned space mission in 2003 made it the third country after the former Soviet Union and the U.S. to put a person into space using its own resources.
___Associated Press video producer Caroline Chen at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and journalist Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
Persons:
Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie, Jiang Xinlin, Tang, Caroline Chen, Kanis Leung
Organizations:
—, China Manned Space Agency, CCTV, U.S, International, Station, People’s Liberation Army, Communist Party, Soviet Union, SpaceX, Associated Press, Center
Locations:
China, — China, Beijing, U.S, Hong Kong