Spacecraft Shenzhou VI carrying two Chinese astronauts blasted off yesterday morning from a base in northwest China, returning the country's manned space program to orbit two years after its history-making first flight.
Millions of people around the country, including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, watched China's second manned spacecraft successfully lifting off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center atop a Long March IIF carrier rocket at 9am.
The launch was declared a success 39 minutes later.
Shenzhou VI and the two astronauts aboard, former fighter pilots Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, will orbit the Earth for the next five days.
The mission will involve "scientific experiments in space with true human participation" that will enhance the level of the experiments, space program officials said.
The ship moved from an elliptical orbit to a circular at orbit at 3:50pm. 
The astronauts successively entered the orbital capsule from the return capsule to conduct experiments about two hours later.
In a brief speech at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Premier Wen hailed the successful launch, saying "the achievement of the launch of Shenzhou VI will be recorded in the country's glorious history."
China's space program, which is purely for peaceful purposes, is a contribution to science and peace, Wen said, adding that China is willing to cooperate with other nations in the development of space science and technology.
China has ambitious plans for space that include eventually landing a man on the moon and setting up the country's own space station.