China's new spacecraft lands back on earth

After a three-day mission the spacecraft had a "successful" landing. China is hoping to have a permanent space station by 2022 as part of plans to send astronauts to the moon.

China's new prototype spacecraft landed safely back on earth on Friday keeping the country's space ambitions on track for a manned mission in 2022, China Global Television Network reported.

The country of some 1.4 billion people is hoping to run a permanent space station, as well as eventually sending astronauts to the moon, and sees this latest mission as a step in that direction.

The spacecraft "successfully landed," the China Manned Space Agency said, despite a hitch in an earlier part of the key test when an unspecified "anomaly" occurred during the return of the cargo capsule.

The landing took place at a predetermined location after two days and 19 hours in orbit, the space agency said. It also confirmed the cabin structure of the craft was intact upon landing

China launched its largest carrier rocket on Tuesday from the Wenchang Space Center on the southern island of Hainan as part of Beijing's plans to match the United States' achievement of a manned moon mission.

Assembly of the Chinese Tiangong space station, whose name means "Heavenly Palace," is expected to begin later this year and finish in 2022.

China became the first nation to reach the far side of the Moon thanks to a lunar rover in January 2019.