China launches lab module Mengtian as space station approaches completion

The Long March-5B Y4 carrier rocket, carrying the space lab module Mengtian, blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, Oct. 31, 2022. [Xinhua/Zhang Liyun]

China on Monday launched the space lab module Mengtian, taking the construction of the country's space station Tiangong into final stage.

Mengtian, Tiangong's second lab module now flying to join the two-module combination already about 400 km above Earth, is the last "building block" that allows Tiangong to form a T-shape structure, the planned layout at the space station's completion.