China launched its first cargo spacecraft on Thursday (April 20), taking another step towards its goal of establishing a permanently manned space station by 2022.
State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of the Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft, carried by a Long March-7 Y2 rocket, lifting off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre in the southern island province of Hainan.
The spacecraft is designed to dock with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, or "Heavenly Palace 2", where two astronauts spent a month last October in China's longest ever manned space mission.
The cargo spacecraft mission will provide an "important technological basis" for the construction of China's space station, according to state media.
The spacecraft can carry 6 tonnes of goods, 2 tonnes of fuel and can fly unmanned for three months, state media said.
State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of the Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft, carried by a Long March-7 Y2 rocket, lifting off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre in the southern island province of Hainan.
The spacecraft is designed to dock with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, or "Heavenly Palace 2", where two astronauts spent a month last October in China's longest ever manned space mission.
The cargo spacecraft mission will provide an "important technological basis" for the construction of China's space station, according to state media.
The spacecraft can carry 6 tonnes of goods, 2 tonnes of fuel and can fly unmanned for three months, state media said.
