JIUQUAN SATELLITE LAUNCH CENTER (China), October 17. /TASS/. China has launched the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft with two astronauts on board, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center’s command center reported.

The spacecraft has entered the calculated orbit. Its communications systems are functioning in a normal mode, the center said.

The Long March-2F carrier rocket blasted off at 07:30 a.m. local time from a launch site at the Jiuquan SLC in China’s northwest.

The key aim of the flight is to hold a number of scientific and applied experiments in space.