Shawdesh desk:

China has launched a second experimental space station, as it looks to have a crewed outpost by 2022.

Next month, two astronauts will go to the station to conduct research. The astronauts that will come on board next month are to spend a full month up there – a longer period of time than possible on Tiangong 1.

Beijing has made space exploration a national priority and is the third country, after the Soviet Union and the US, to launch people into space.

The mission follows the launch of the Tiangong 1 prototype in 2011, a smaller but also operational model.