See-off ceremony held for taikonauts of Shenzhou-18 mission

A see-off ceremony for three taikonauts of the Shenzhou-18 crewed space mission was held on Thursday at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

At the command of Xu Xueqiang, commander-in-chief of China's manned space program, taikonauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu set off at 6:10 pm (Beijing Time).

As of Thursday, the Shenzhou-17 crew has stayed in the orbiting Tiangong space station for nearly six months and is preparing for the arrival of the Shenzhou-18 crew.

The Shenzhou-18 spaceship is slated to be launched at 8:59pm Thursday, and the new crew will stay in orbit for six months.