China's space lab Tiangong-2 blasts off

Jiuquan: China on Thursday launched its Tiangong-2 space lab into space paving the way for a permanent space station it plans to build around 2022.

In a cloud of brown smoke, Tiangong-2 roared into the air underneath a mid-autumn full moon from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on the back of a Long March-2F rocket, trailing a vast volume of flame, Xinhua news agency reported.