China launched the Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft into orbit with three taikonauts. TASS reports this with reference to a message from the head of the launch center at the Jiuquan Cosmodrome, Zou Lipeng.
“Shenzhou-19” has entered exactly the specified orbit, its solar sail has opened, and the ship is operating in normal operating mode. I declare the launch successful,” the official said.
The manned spacecraft was launched at 23:27 Moscow time on October 29 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and docked with the Chinese Tiangong orbital station at about 6:00 Moscow time. “Tyagun” is designed for three people. It is located at an altitude of approximately 400 km from the earth's surface and weighs 66 tons. The volume of its compartments reaches 110 cubic meters. The station became operational in 2022 and will be decommissioned in 2032.
Prior to this, the Chinese company Deep Blue Aerospace sold the first tickets for a 12-minute journey into space. According to the publication, the cost of tickets was about 1.5 million yuan, or $210 thousand each. The auction took place during a live broadcast on the Chinese online store Taobao; tickets were sold out in four minutes.
