China has taken what could be a giant leap forward in its space programme with the arrival of two of its astronauts at the Tiangong 2 space laboratory.<br /><br /> Watch LIVE: #Shenzhou11 and #Tiangong2 set for orbital docking #Today at 19:30UTC https://t.co/6LJ8qJnY0O cc: @Astroguyz pic.twitter.com/hOsiWR3BWX— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 18, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong are embarking on what is expected to be the country’s longest space mission. They’ll spend 30 days conducting experiments in the lab.<br /><br /> The Shenzhou-11 spacecraft docked at Tiangong to great applause a day after blasting off from northern China.<br /><br /> Watch the breathtaking #Shenzhou11 blast-off #SpaceChina pic.twitter.com/AlqeyMrdar— CCTVNEWS (@cctvnews) October 16, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> Excluded from the ISS, Beijing plans to build its own fully-operational, permanent, space station by 2022. <br /><br /> It pours an estimated two billion euros into its space programme per year.<br /><br /> China’s first manned mission was in 2003. Since then, 11 Chinese people have travelled into space.<br />
