China Launches Shenzhou-21 Mission: Youngest Astronaut and Lab Mice Journey to Tiangong Space Station

China has ambitious plans to launch a crewed lunar mission before the decade concludes. (File)

On Friday, a fresh crew departed for China's space station, including the nation's youngest ever astronaut and four laboratory mice.

The Shenzhou-21 mission crew launched aboard a Long March-2F rocket at 11:44 pm (1544 GMT) from northwestern China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, as observed by AFP journalists.

The Tiangong space station—which maintains rotating crews of three astronauts every six months—represents the pinnacle of China's space program, into which the nation has invested billions to compete with the United States and Russia.

China has set ambitious goals to send humans to the Moon by the end of this decade and eventually establish a lunar base.

The mission is led by commander and experienced space pilot Zhang Lu, accompanied by 32-year-old flight engineer Wu Fei—China's youngest astronaut to venture into space—and payload specialist Zhang Hongzhang, 39.

The three astronauts bid farewell to colleagues and family members at the remote Gobi Desert launch facility as a band performed patriotic music.

Commander Zhang Lu told reporters on Thursday that he was confident his team would "report back to our motherland and its people with complete success".

First-time space traveler Wu expressed feeling "incomparably lucky" during Thursday's news conference.

Four mice—two males and two females—are accompanying the crew as subjects in China's first orbital experiments involving rodents.

Shenzhou-21 is anticipated to dock with Tiangong approximately three-and-a-half hours after launch.

'Space Dream' Beijing's space program is the third to place humans in orbit, following the United States and former Soviet Union.

China has accelerated its "space dream" initiatives under President Xi Jinping, successfully landing the Chang'e-4 probe on the Moon's far side in 2019—a historic first for any spacecraft.

In 2021, China also landed a small robotic rover on Mars.

On Thursday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) outlined several "crucial upcoming tests" being conducted in preparation for its 2030 Moon mission goal.

Beyond advancing scientific research, the Shenzhou-21 crew is expected to perform spacewalks and install protective anti-debris shields on the Tiangong space station's exterior.

The astronauts will also conduct "popular science education," according to the CMSA, as Beijing seeks to develop future space talent both domestically and internationally.

China has been excluded from participating in the International Space Station since 2011, when the United States prohibited NASA from collaborating with Beijing.

Since then, China has sought to incorporate other countries into its space program and signed an agreement with longtime ally Pakistan in February to recruit the first foreign "taikonauts".

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