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		</div><p>China has launched a three-member crew to its orbiting space station as part of its ambitious programme that aims to put astronauts on the Moon by 2030.</p>
<p>The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on the edge of the Gobi Desert in north-western China atop a Long March 2-F rocket at 8.59pm local time.</p>
<p>The spacecraft’s three-member crew will relieve the Shenzhou-17 team, which has been manning China’s Tiangong space station since last October.</p>
<p>The China Manned Space Agency, or CMSA, held a send-off ceremony — complete with flag-waving children and patriotic tunes — for the Shenzhou-18 crew earlier on Thursday, as the three astronauts prepared to enter the spacecraft.</p>
<p>The trio is made of Commander Ye Guangfu, 43, a veteran astronaut who took part in the Shenzhou-13 mission in 2021, and fighter pilots Li Cong, 34, and Li Guangsu, 36, who are spaceflight rookies.</p>
<p>They are expected to reach the space station about six-and-a-half hours after lift-off.</p>
<p>China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely because of US concerns over the Chinese military’s involvement in the programme.</p>
<p>This year, the station is slated for two cargo spacecraft missions and two manned spaceflight missions.</p>
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