China has launched three astronauts to replace the crew on the Chinese Tiangong space station. The Shenzhou 20 spaceship took off as planned atop China’s workhorse Long March 2F rocket at 5:17 p.m. local time (0917 GMT).

China has successfully launched three astronauts to its Tiangong space station, marking another step towards a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

A spaceship carrying three astronauts docked Thursday with China’s space station in the latest crew rotation, marking a further step in the country’s ambitions for a crewed mission to the moon and explore Mars.