China boosts space program with new heavy rocket launch

A Long March 5 carrier rocket is launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Wenchang, Hainan Province, China November 3, 2016. China Daily/via REUTERS

China has launched its new Long March-5 heavy rocket, state media said, sending its payload into orbit in the country's latest step in advancing its space exploration program.

The launch comes after China began its longest manned space mission last month, sending two astronauts to spend a month aboard a space laboratory that is part of a broader plan to have a permanent manned space station in service around 2022.