China sends its youngest astronaut to 'Heavenly Palace' space station

Chinese astronaut for the Shenzhou 21 mission, from left, Zhang Hongzhang, Wu Fei, and Zhang Lu wave as they attend a see-off ceremony for their manned space mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. -- AP Photo/Andy Wong

BEIJING (Reuters): China's Shenzhou-21 space rocket and its crew, including the youngest member of its astronaut corps, blasted off on Friday atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China, Chinese state media reported.

It was the seventh mission to the permanently inhabited Chinese space station since it was completed in 2022.