China completes first emergency mission to Tiangong space station

China's first emergency space launch went ahead without incident on Tuesday, as the country plugged safety risks at its crewed space station after a vessel was damaged in orbit earlier this month.

The unmanned Shenzhou-22 spacecraft lifted off on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China at 12:11 p.m. (0411 GMT), according to China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

"The spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket and entered its planned orbit. The launch mission was a complete success," CMSA said in a statement published on its official WeChat account.

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 travelled to China's permanently inhabited Tiangong space station, docking at 3:50 p.m. (0750 GMT), according to CCTV.