Articles by Stephen Clark

The launch of the next crew to China’s Tiangong space station late Monday (U.S. time) added three astronauts to the population of humans in space, which reached a record number of 17 people in orbit — six Chinese citizens, five Americans, three Russians, two Saudis, and one Emirati astronaut.

Three Chinese astronaut rocketed into orbit in pursuit of the Tiangong space station at 9:31 p.m. EDT Monday (0131 UTC Tuesday). The crew blasted off from the Jiuquan launch base in northwestern China on a Long March 2F rocket.

The next three-man crew to live on China’s Tiangong space station will launch Monday night on a Long March rocket, heading for a half-year expedition on the orbiting outpost to replace an outgoing team of astronauts set to return to Earth this weekend.