The launch took place at 22:27 local time on Wednesday (14:27 GMT) from the Wenchang space launch site in southern China. The spacecraft is expected to deliver essential supplies, spacesuits and spare parts to the Chinese Tiangong space station.
This is China's first manned space mission in 2024. Tianzhou-7's predecessor, Tianzhou-6, returned to Earth last Friday.
China actively developed its space program in 2022 and finished the main construction of its Tiangong orbital station. The basic structure of the T-shaped station consists of the Tianhe core module and two laboratory modules — Wentian and Mengtian — docked to it. The station can host up to six people at the same time during a crew rotation change. The operational life of the station is 15 years and is due to end in 2038.