China has launched three astronauts into orbit to begin occupation of the country’s new space station, writes BBC.

The three men - Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo - are to spend three months aboard the Tianhe module some 380km (236 miles) above the Earth.

It will be China’s longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years.

On Thursday, their Shenzhou-12 capsule successfully took off atop its Long March 2F rocket.

The launch and subsequent mission are another demonstration of China’s growing confidence and capability in the space domain.