China launches first unmanned cargo spaceship

China successfully launched its first unmanned cargo spaceship on Thursday, taking the country one step closer to building its own space station.

The Tianzhou 1 blasted off from China’s newest launch site, Wenchang.

The craft will carry out scientific experiment after reaching the Tiangong 2 space station.

Speaking at the launch, Zhang Xueyu, launch site commander said, “I hereby declare that the Tianzhou 1 spacecraft launch has been succesfully completed”.

The Tiangong 2 space station was launched last year September and is currently unmanned.