China on Monday launched the space lab module Mengtian, taking the construction of the country’s space station Tiangong into the final stage.
The Mengtian module, flying to join the two-module combination already about 400 kilometres above Earth.
The last building block that allowed Tiangong to form a T-shape structure was the planned layout at the space station’s completion.
The new combination is projected to take shape after a succession of elaborately-manoeuvred tasks, including the docking and the subsequent in-orbit transposition.
The Long March-5B Y4 carrier rocket, carrying Mengtian, blasted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan.
This was announced by the China Manned Space Agency. (Xinhua/NAN)
