China launches three new astronauts to its space station

China launched three astronauts to its space station on Thursday to replace their colleagues manning the station for the past six months.

The Shenzhou-20 crewed spaceship carrying the astronauts blasted off at 5:17 pm (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China which was telecast live by the state television CGTN.

The spaceship is carrying three astronauts -- Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, Wang Jie and Chen Dong.

Shenzhou-20 is the 35th flight mission of China's manned space programme, and the fifth crewed mission during the application and development stage of China's space station.