China on Thursday launched its crewed mission by sending three astronauts to its space station’s core module Tianhe. The Shenzhou-12 spacecraft, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China’s Gobi Desert. The launch was telecast live by the state-run CGTN-TV. In few minutes after the launch, the mission control announced that the launch was a complete success.

According to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), It is China’s seventh crewed mission to space and the first during the construction of China’s space station. The three astronauts will set a new record for China’s manned space mission duration, exceeding the 33 days spent by the Shenzhou-11 crew in 2016.

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After entering orbit, the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft will dock with the in-orbit space station core module Tianhe, forming a compound with Tianhe and the cargo craft Tianzhou-2. The astronauts will be stationed in the core module. Their work will be more complicated and challenging than the previous crewed missions, according to Hao Chun, director of the CMSA.