China launches mission to complete space station assembly

China launched a new three-person mission to complete assembly work on its permanent orbiting space station.

The Shenzhou 14 crew will spend six months on the Tiangong station. Their spaceship blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert on Sunday morning.

Commander Chen Dong and fellow astronauts Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe will assemble the three-module structure.

The launch was broadcast live on state television, indicating a rising level of confidence in the capabilities of the space program, which has been promoted as a sign of China's technological progress and global influence.