China launches itself back into space race
A ROCKET carrying two Chinese astronauts blasted off yesterday from a base in the country’s desert north-west, returning the country’s manned space programme to orbit two years after its history-making first flight.
The mission, due to last up to five days, is an effort by the Communist government to make clear its status as a rising world power, with technological triumphs to match its rapid economic growth. It is only the third country to launch a human into orbit on its own, after Russia and the United States.
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