The youngest-ever crew of Chinese astronauts departed for China's space station on Thursday, paving the way for a new generation of "taikonauts" to advance the country's space ambitions in the future.
The spacecraft Shenzhou-17, or "Divine Vessel" and its three passengers lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
Leading the six-month mission was former air force pilot Tang Hongbo, 48, who was on the first crewed mission to the space station in 2021.