China launches longest-ever manned space mission

China successfully launched the two-man spacecraft Shenzhou 11 into orbit on Monday, where it will dock with the space lab Tiangong 2, marking a milestone in the country's ambition of setting up a permanent manned space station by 2022.

The astronauts took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northern China.

The spacecraft was launched with a Long March-2F Y11 carrier rocket at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gobi desert at 7:30 am Monday Beijing time. Defense Minister Fan Changlong then read a congratulatory message from President Xi Jinping calling for China's astronauts to explore space "more deeply and more broadly". China was left out of the International Space Station because the U.S. was concerned over the military nature of the country's space station. The Tiangong, or "Heavenly Palace", stations are considered stepping stones to a mission to Mars by the end of the decade.

This is China's longest manned space mission - the first time two astronauts from the country will stay in space for 30 days.

Inside of it were taikonauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, according to Wu Ping, deputy director of China's manned space engineering office, who spoke from a televised news conference.

"It is any astronaut's dream and pursuit to be able to perform many space missions", Jing, who turns 50 during his time in space, told a briefing Sunday.

China's enthusiasm for space travel is boundless, and the country has made little secret of its desire to send manned missions to the Moon and to Mars. Administrators suggest a crewed landing on the moon may also be in the program's future.

The U.S. space agency, NASA, congratulated Shenzhou on the launch.

China has stressed that its space program is for peaceful purposes, according to Reuters.

The space station where the astronauts will spend the next month is called the Tiangong 2 space station precursor facility. It is carrying two male astronauts - 49-year-old Jing Haipeng and 37-year-old Chen Dong.

The Guardian said there were some reports that stated that China's space agency had lost control of the space lab, which was originally launched in 2011.

The U.S. Defense Department, though, has anxious about China's space capabilities, charging that the Asian country was pursuing activities targeted at preventing other nations from using space-based assets in a crisis, Reuters wrote. Being Beijing's third mission to space this year, the spectacular sight was telecasted live by the state-run China Central Television.