China sent a three-person crew to the orbiting space station on Thursday as part of its ambitious program to send astronauts to the moon by 2030. The Shenzhou-18 spacecraft was launched at 20:59 (12:59 GMT) aboard a Long March 2-F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at the edge of northwestern China’s Gobi Desert.

The spacecraft’s three-person crew will replace the Shenzhou-17 crew, which has been on duty at China’s Tiangong space station since last October. Earlier on Thursday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) held a farewell ceremony for the Shenzhou-18 crew, where children waved flags and played patriotic music as the three astronauts prepared to enter the spacecraft.

The trio consists of senior astronaut Commander Ye Guangfu (43), who joined the Shenzhou-13 mission in 2021, and fighter pilots Li Cun (34) and Li Guangsu (36), who are new to spaceflight. They are expected to reach the space station approximately six and a half hours after launch.

China built its own space station after being kicked out of the International Space Station, largely due to U.S. concerns about the Chinese military’s involvement in the program. Two cargo spacecraft missions and two manned space missions are planned for the China station this year.

The Shenzhou-18 crew will spend approximately six months on the space station. According to CMSA deputy director Lin Siqiang, they will conduct scientific tests, install space debris protection equipment on the station, conduct payload experiments and promote science education, among other things.

Lin also said China is working to allow foreign astronauts and space tourists access to the space station.

“We will accelerate research and encourage the participation of foreign astronauts and space tourists in flights on the Chinese space station,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The country is planning a Mars sample return mission around 2030 and three lunar probe missions in the next four years. He also wants to send astronauts to the moon by 2030. China launched its first manned space mission in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the USA to send people into space under its own power.

The US space program is said to still have a significant advantage over China in terms of costs, supply chains and capabilities. But China has exploded in some areas, returning samples from the lunar surface for the first time in decades and landing a rover on the less-explored far side of the moon.

The United States aims to return a crew to the lunar surface by the end of 2025 as part of a renewed commitment to crewed missions supported by private sector players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin.