China rolls out rocket for Shenzhou-14 crewed mission

China is preparing to launch three astronauts to its Tiangong space station to oversee a crucial phase of construction of the orbital outpost. The Long March 2F rocket was rolled out to the pad at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert early on May 29. The 62-meter-long rocket was transferred vertically across the roughly 1,500 meters from the assembly building to the pad at no faster than 30 meters per minute. The launcher and the Shenzhou-14 crew spacecraft had been assembled and stored vertically at the site for more than 280 days as it stood on standby in case of need of an emergency on the space station. More

(Source: SpaceNews - May 30)