The three astronaut crew were carried to China's Tiangong space station and will replace a similar crew that have been in space for the last six months.
China's first woman cosmonaut and two of her colleagues returned to Earth on Friday after successfully accomplishing the country's first-ever manual space docking during a two-week mission, giving a boost to Beijing's efforts to build a space station by 2020.
China will send its first woman into space when an air force pilot joins a three-member team of astronauts on the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft which blasts off on Saturday.
The Shenzhou 7 spacecraft, China's third manned mission, blasted off atop a 'Long March 2F' rocket at 1840 IST under clear night skies from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu Province in northwestern China.
China completed its first manned space docking on Monday, as a spacecraft carrying three astronauts including the country's first spacewoman, successfully coupled with an orbiting module, in a major milestone for its ambitious space programme.
Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng, 50, and Chen Dong, 37, were blasted off into space by Shenzhou-11 (heavenly vessel) spacecraft.
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