First emergency mission to space station blasts off

China's first emergency space launch entered orbit after blasting off yesterday, as the country looks to plug safety risks at its crewed space station after a vessel was damaged in orbit earlier this month.

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A Long March-2F rocket carrying the unmanned 'Shenzhou-22' spacecraft takes off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, in Gansu province, yesterday.

(REUTERS)

The unmanned Shenzhou-22 spacecraft lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China at 12.11pm, according to China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Video shared by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed the rocket blazing into space, with Earth visible in the background as the vessel entered orbit.

The spacecraft will travel to China's permanently inhabited Tiangong space station, where three astronauts currently reside with no flightworthy vessel that could return them to Earth in the event of an emergency.