China launches second experimental space station

CNI Desk: China has launched a second experimental space station, as it looks to have a crewed outpost by 2022.

The Tiangong 2 blasted off just after 22:00 local time on Thursday from the Gobi desert, reports BBC.

 

Next month, two astronauts will go to the station to conduct research. The astronauts that will come on board next month are to spend a full month up there - a longer period of time than possible on Tiangong 1.

Beijing has made space exploration a national priority and is the third country, after the Soviet Union and the US, to launch people into space.

The mission follows the launch of the Tiangong 1 prototype in 2011, a smaller but also operational model.