It’s a giant leap for China’s space program. The country’s first crewed mission since 2016.

Three-men will spend several months carrying out experiments and building their new space station on a mission which will include two spacewalks.

CGTN’s Ning Hong reports on the launch and on what’s next for the country’s space program.

To discuss:

• Yang Yuguang is a professor at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.
• James Head is a professor of Geological Sciences at Brown University and a veteran of NASA’s Apollo program.
• Keith Cowing is the editor at NASAWatch.com and a former rocket scientist.
• Amitabha Ghosh is a space scientist, working on NASA Mars missions.

For more:

VIDEO: The first astronauts for China's new space station bid farewell at a departure ceremony in Jiuquan before their launch on a Long March-2F rocket for the country's longest crewed mission to date pic.twitter.com/ZxbTKcAlIF

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 17, 2021

Three astronauts launched to orbit from China for the first time since 2016. They will spend three months aboard the nascent Chinese space station. https://t.co/de6RbadyyK

— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 17, 2021