Chinese rocket blasts off for Tiangong space station

A Chinese rocket carrying three astronauts to the country's space station blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Site, in northwestern China, the latest milestone in Beijing's race to become a leading space power. 

The Long March-2F rocket lifted into the air in a plume of flame and smoke, carrying the Shenzhou-20 spaceship. Beijing has pumped billions of dollars into its space programme in recent years in an effort to achieve what President Xi Jinping describes as the Chinese people's "space dream".