Three astronauts, including the first Chinese civilian to go to space, will spend six months on the Tiangong.

The Shenzhou-16 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan launch centre on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China on a Long March 2F rocket at 9:31am local time (01:31 GMT) on Tuesday.

The launch was a “complete success” and the “astronauts are in good condition”, said Zou Lipeng, the centre’s director.

The crew will overlap briefly with the three astronauts currently on board the Tiangong station, who will then return to Earth after completing their six-month mission.

Dozens of employees from the space programme, many of whom live at the complex, turned out for the launch, snapping selfies with the rocket in the background, and waving Chinese flags.

They let out a loud “Wow”, shouting “Good luck” and waving as the rocket took off in a cloud of smoke.

Leading the crew is commander Jing Haipeng, who is on his fourth mission. Also on board are engineer Zhu Yangzhu and Beihang University professor Gui Haichao, the first Chinese civilian in space.

China said on Monday it plans to expand the space station and launch a crewed mission to the moon before 2030.