China launched its first cargo spacecraft on Thursday (April 20), taking another step towards its goal of establishing a permanently manned space station by 2022. <br /> <br />State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of the Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft, carried by a Long March-7 Y2 rocket, lifting off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre in the southern island province of Hainan. <br /> <br />The spacecraft is designed to dock with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, or "Heavenly Palace 2", where two astronauts spent a month last October in China's longest ever manned space mission. <br /> <br />The cargo spacecraft mission will provide an "important technological basis" for the construction of China's space station, according to state media. <br /> <br />The spacecraft can carry 6 tonnes of goods, 2 tonnes of fuel and can fly unmanned for three months, state media said. <br />State broadcaster CCTV showed footage of the Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft, carried by a Long March-7 Y2 rocket, lifting off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre in the southern island province of Hainan. <br /> <br />The spacecraft is designed to dock with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, or "Heavenly Palace 2", where two astronauts spent a month last October in China's longest ever manned space mission. <br /> <br />The cargo spacecraft mission will provide an "important technological basis" for the construction of China's space station, according to state media. <br /> <br />The spacecraft can carry 6 tonnes of goods, 2 tonnes of fuel and can fly unmanned for three months, state media said.
