The crew will use China’s homegrown space station as a base for six months, conducting scientific experiments and spacewalks as part of Beijing’s preparation to put an astronaut on the Moon by 2030.
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Beijing hailed the Shenzhou 19 mission as a “complete success” — one of 100 launches planned this year in a record-setting push to strengthen its space capabilities in competition with the United States.
The BBC was granted rare access to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu, observing the spacecraft’s powerful liftoff, which illuminated the Gobi Desert in a blaze of flames and thunderous noise.
As the taikonauts — China’s term for astronauts — embarked on their journey, hundreds lined the streets, cheering them on.
Two years ago, President Xi Jinping declared that China’s goal to explore space and become a space power was part of its “eternal dream.”
However, China’s rapid progress has stirred concerns in Washington. Earlier this year, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson remarked that the U.S. and China are “in effect, in a race” to return to the Moon, expressing concern over potential territorial ambitions and dual-use capabilities in China’s space program.
However, in Dongfeng Space City, a town built to support the launch site, China’s space programme is celebrated.
Every street light is adorned with the national flag.
Cartoon-like astronaut figurines and sculptures sit in the centre of children’s parks and plastic rockets are a centrepiece on most traffic roundabouts.
A huge poster with Xi Jinping on one side and a photo of the Shenzhou spacecraft on the other greets you as you drive into the main compound.
Hundreds have gathered in the dark after midnight to wave flags and brightly coloured lights as the Taikonauts make their last few steps on Earth before heading to the launch site.
The brass band strikes up Ode to the Motherland as young children, kept up late for the occasion, their cheeks adorned with the Chinese flag, all shout in full song.
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This is a moment of national pride.
The pilot of this mission, Cai Xuzhe, is a veteran but he’s travelling with a new generation of Chinese-trained taikonauts born in 1990 – including China’s first female space engineer, Wang Haoze.
“Their youthful energy has made me feel younger and even more confident,” he told the gathered media ahead of take-off.
“Inspired by dreams that spark glory, and by glory that ignites new dreams, we assure the party and the people that we will stay true to our mission, with our hearts and minds fully devoted. We will strive to achieve new accomplishments in China’s crewed space programme.”
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Standing to his left, beaming, is Song Lingdong.
He recalls watching one of China’s first space station missions as a 13-year-old with “excitement and awe”. He chose to become a pilot in the hope that this is how he could serve his country.
All three convey their deep sense of national pride, and state media has emphasised that this will be its “youngest crew” to date.
The message is clear: this is a new generation of space travellers and an investment in the country’s future.
China has already selected its next group of astronauts and they will train for potential lunar missions as well as to crew the space station.
“I am determined not to let down the trust placed in me,” says Mr Song. “I will strive to make our country’s name shine once again in space.”
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