China has launched an unmanned spaceship in the latest step towards creating its own manned space station by 2020. The Shenzhou VIII is scheduled to dock with another craft 343km above the earth’s surface later this week, as China practises a key technique first used by the US and Russia more than 40 years ago.

The Shenzhou VIII was launched on a Long March carrier rocket at 6am on Tuesday and is scheduled to link up with Tiangong I, the space module which was sent up in late September and which will conduct the most important work in preparation for the space station, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said.

Tuesday’s launch is a crucial step in Beijing’s ambitious plan to complete its permanent space station by 2020, just as the International Space Station is scheduled to retire, and leave it as the only nation with such a permanent presence in space.