China's first space lab module Tiangong-1 blasted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.
Commander-in-chief of China's manned space program Chang Wanquan announced the launch of Tiangong-1 is successful.
"According to report from Beijing Aerospace Control Centre, Tiangong-1 has entered its designated orbit. Let me declare, the launch of Tiangong-1 is successful."
The unmanned module, carried by the Long March rocket, will test space docking with a Chinese spacecraft later this year, paving the way for China to become the third country in the world to operate a permanent space station around 2020.
Chinese President Hu Jintao watched the launch from the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, while Premier Wen Jibao has watched the historical take-off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
The big test will come about one month after the blastoff, when it attempts to join up with an unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft that China plans to launch.
China will turn its future space station into an international platform for space research and application.
Karl Bergquist, Administrator of the International Relations Department at the European Space Agency, says it's positive news.
"I think this is a great step first of all for China, but it's also very important for the other space-faring countries, I mean everybody involved in the manned space activities and in space in general, because it's a new impetus. It's a new scientific lab which is being launched. I think this is very positive news."
China has expressed its strong willingness to cooperate with other countries in exploring space. So far China's Long March rocket series has successfully sent more than 20 satellites into space for the United States, Australia, Pakistan and other countries and regions.
One Chinese scientist and five international peers have also participated in Russia's Mars-500 Program, a ground-based experiment simulating a manned expedition to Mars.
For CRI, this is Shuangfeng in Jiuquan.
