China launches 1st cargo spacecraft Tianzhou 1

BEIJING. KAZINFORM China has launched its first unmanned cargo spacecraft Tianzhou 1 from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan.

According to Xinhua news agency, the cargo ship is a "crucial step" toward the country's goal of completing its crewed space station by 2022.

Tianzhou 1 blasted off at 7:41 p.m. (1141 GMT) Thursday atop a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket.
It will conduct scientific experiments in space, including one on non-Newtonian gravitation, before falling back to Earth, Xinhua said.

China's space station is set to be completed in 2022 and is expected to operate for at least a decade.