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Newshour: 17/06/2021 20:06 GMT: First crew blasts off to new China space station

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17/06/2021 20:06 GMT

17/06/2021 20:06 GMT: First crew blasts off to new China space station

First crew blasts off to new China space station

BBC World Service - Newshour, First crew blasts off to new China space station

China launches astronauts into orbit for its longest human spaceflight mission

Three astronauts take off for China's longest ever human spaceflight mission.

China has launched three astronauts into orbit to begin occupation of the country's new space station. It will be China's longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years. But is that achievement dimming the prospects for the US Space Agency?  We speak to former NASA chief and former astronaut Charles Bolden.

Also in the programme: The former president of Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo, has returned home after nearly a decade overseas during which he was cleared of crimes against humanity; and Zambia declares three weeks of mourning to honour the independence leader Kenneth Kaunda, who has died at the age of 97.

(Photo: Chinese astronauts (L-R) Tang Hongbo, Nie Haisheng, and Liu Boming wave during a departure ceremony before their launch to begin occupation of the country's new space station. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency)

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17/06/2021 20:06 GMT: First crew blasts off to new China space station

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