Rocket launches Chinese space lab

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News 29 September 2011 Last updated at 14:16

A rocket carrying China's first space laboratory, Tiangong-1, has launched from the north of the country.

The Long March vehicle lifted clear from the Jiuquan spaceport in the Gobi Desert at 21:16 local time (13:16 GMT).

It will be a few hours before controllers can confirm that the lab has been put in its correct orbit.

The 10.5m-long, cylindrical module will be unmanned for the time being, but the country's astronauts, or yuhangyuans, are expected to visit it next year.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15112760