The successful launch of China's Shenzhou-14 crewed spaceship is of great significance to global space exploration and will bring benefits to international space cooperation, said experts from all around the world.

The Shenzhou-14 crewed spacecraft was launched on June 5 from northwestern China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, sending three taikonauts, Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, to China's first space station combination for a six-month mission.

The trio entered the Tianzhou-4 cargo craft and will cooperate with the ground team to complete the assembly and construction of the China space station, developing it from a single-module structure into a national space laboratory with three modules, the core module Tianhe and two lab modules Wentian and Mengtian.

Foreign experts praise Shenzhou-14 mission

Natan Eismont, the leading researcher at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told China Global Television Network (CGTN) that launching a long-term operational space station with sustainable development will not only be an important phrase for China's space industry but also crucial for the international space industry.

He also said that such space station won't just benefit one single country for that will make the launch meaningless. The purpose of constructing a space station is beyond cooperation for scientific and technological research and development, for it will also provide communication among countries for many other issues alongside sci-tech topics.

Meanwhile, the Russian researcher also pointed out that his country is now facing many sanctions and restrictions. Concerning the space industry, China has long been confronting such restrictions mainly from the U.S. and others.

"The U.S. not only blocked its cooperation with China in space completely, but also made other countries do the same. In fact, China has designed and constructed carrier rockets which are significant for space explorations, so it needs to solve the problem and join the countries which are successfully cooperating in space. China's space station could be the first step to achieve so," said Natan Eismont.

Tsujino Teruhisa, a former international affairs official with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, told China Media Group (CMG) that China's space station will be a hotbed for international space cooperation.

"In a word, this mission is very important. It will mark the official completion of China's space station, which is of historic significance. There will be many possibilities for international cooperation, including cosmic experiments, on the space station. It is the sharing of achievements of aerospace programs that makes space exploration meaningful," he said.

Pascal Coppens, a science and technology expert from Belgium, lauded China's great progress in space exploration and expressed his hope that Europe will carry out more cooperation with China.

"I would never have imagined that after 20 years, so much progress would have been made. I mean, it's incredible. China, from my perspective, has always been quite open to engage other countries to join together on programs. And I think it's about humankind, and it's about the world and our future. We just have to work together and be open for further collaborations," he said.

Mohammad Bahareth, president of the Saudi Space Club, praised China's pioneering contributions to mankind's space exploration and its willingness to open its space station to other countries.

"On China's successful launch of the Shenzhou-14 spaceship and docking with the country's space station, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the great China and the Chinese people. This is another victory for China to build the 'Great Wall' in space," said Mohammad Bahareth.

"China is not only serving as the engine of global economic development but also making unprecedented progress in space exploration. The Saudi Space Commission has signed a cooperation agreement with China and will conduct cooperative research on how cosmic rays affect the performance of solar cells on the Chinese space station. Such international cooperation will benefit the whole world," he added. 

Croatian astronomer Ante Radonic said the successful launch shows that China's manned spaceflight technology is mature, everything is going according to schedule and the construction of China's space station will be completed soon.

China is the third country in the world capable of independently carrying out manned spaceflight activities, said Radonic, adding that China's manned spaceflight program already holds a leading position globally and that the space station program further demonstrates the rapid development of China's manned spaceflight technology.

Foreign media applaud Shenzhou-14 mission

The flight of the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft to the China space station marked the beginning of a decade during which Chinese astronauts will constantly live and work in low-orbit Earth, Russia's Regnum news agency reported.

The Moscow Komsomolets newspaper detailed China's plans to build the China space station.

Noting that China has successfully sent another team of taikonauts into space to complete its first space station, Germany's DPA reported the space station underpins China's aspirations to catch up with the world's major manned spaceflight nations. China's space program has already achieved some successes, it added.

South Korea's mainstream media, including Yonhap news agency and KBS, also reported on the launch. China's space station has drawn wide attention, Yonhap news agency said, adding that if the International Space Station is decommissioned, China's space station would become the world's only space station.

(With input from Xinhua)