Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos and the European Space Agency (ESA) congratulated on Thursday the successful launch of the Shenzhou-12 crewed mission to the Chinese Space Station.

"Congratulations to the China National Space Administration on the launch of three 'taikonauts'," the ESA said in a tweet. 

Roscosmos said that Chinese space technologies are developing and the successful launch is another proof of this, adding that Russia and China will become reliable partners in the long-term exploration of near and deep space for a long time.