Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center — China was set to launch its Shenzhou-21 spacecraft on Friday, carrying a new three-person crew to man the country's own Tiangong space station on a mission focused on scientific research. The replacement crew includes China's youngest-ever taikonaut — as China's space program calls its astronauts — and, for the first time since Beijing launched its program, it will also include live mammals.

The Shenzhou-21 and its crew were to blast off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China just before midnight on Friday, or at about 11 a.m. Eastern.

The taikonauts on board will be Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang, who will rotate in so the trio currently on board the Chinese space station from the previous Shenzhou-20 mission, which launche

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