Three Chinese astronauts took off Thursday for the first manned flight towards the "Heavenly Palace" space station that Beijing is building in front of the International Space Station, in a step that is of great importance in its ambitious program to establish itself as a global space power.

The "Long March-2F" rocket took off from a platform at the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in the Gobi Desert (northwest China) before entering orbit ten minutes later.

This is the first manned flight to China in nearly five years. The three astronauts are expected to stay three months in orbit, a record period for the Asian giant.

This mission comes in light of a tense atmosphere between China and the West, and its success is of great importance to Beijing, which is preparing to celebrate on July 1, the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

The Shenzhou-12 spacecraft is supposed to dock with the main unit of the Tiangong Station called Tianhe, which was put into orbit on April 29.

This unit constitutes the station's command center and the residence of the astronauts. It is in a low orbit at an altitude ranging between 350 and 390 km.

The docking process may take place six hours after the launch, according to what was reported by the official Chinese "CCTV" television.

"The solar panels opened in a natural way, and we can say that the launch was successful," said Zhang Xifen, director of the launch center.

The three astronauts face many tasks, from maintaining and installing equipment, going out to space, preparing for future construction missions, and the arrival of other crews.

- after my homeland -

China had decided to establish its own manned space base after the United States refused to allow it to participate in the International Space Station.

The International Space Station, which brings together the United States, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan, will be out of service in 2024.

When completed, Tiangong will have a mass of about 90 tons and is expected to operate for a minimum of ten years, according to the China Space Agency.

It would be much smaller than the International Space Station and similar to the Soviet Mir space station, which was launched in 1986 and decommissioned in 2001.

China has invested billions of dollars over decades in order to catch up with established space powers such as the United States and Russia.

So far, it has managed to send humans into space and a probe to the moon, and last month, a robot belonging to it landed on Mars, in a very important space achievement.

A long-term human presence in space would be an important leap in China's space program.

President Xi Jinping described China's space station as a major step in "building a great nation of science and technology" after the launch of the Tianhe module.

If the ISS is "retired," Tiangong will be the only space station in service.

"We are ready to cooperate with any country that is committed to the peaceful use of space," said Ji Keming, a senior official with the manned flight agency on Wednesday.

- Farewell Ceremony -

The three astronauts bid farewell to their relatives and colleagues during a ceremony punctuated by national anthems.

The three astronauts underwent more than 6,000 hours of training to get used to zero gravity.

The Chinese space station, Tiangong, is scheduled to remain in service for at least ten years.

Last month, a cargo vehicle transported fuel, food and equipment in preparation for this manned mission.