Beijing: In the latest move in its ambitious space program, China launched a manned spacecraft from the Gobi Desert on Monday.

With two astronauts on board, the spacecraft, called Shenzhou-11, is to dock with an orbiting space laboratory launched last month.

The astronauts will stay in the Tiangong-2 lab for 30 days before returning to Earth, the deputy director of China's Manned Space Agency, Wu Ping, said Sunday.

It will be the third flight for one of the astronauts, Jing Haipeng. "It is any astronaut's dream and pursuit to be able to perform many space missions," Jing said, according to Xinhua, the state-run news agency.

The mission will be China's sixth manned space launch, and by staying aloft for 30 days the two astronauts will more than double the national record for staying in space, CCTV, the national broadcaster said.

The main tasks in the space lab will include testing computers, as well as propulsion and life support systems and other experiments, CCTV said. The activities in the lab are intended to help China reach its goal of launching a more permanent space station, Tianhe-1, in 2018.

The docking of the spacecraft with the lab will take place about two days after the liftoff, Chinese space officials said.

China launched its first lunar probe in 2013, and plans to land another lunar probe on the far side of the moon by 2018. In 2020, China aims to send an unmanned rover to Mars. The target date for sending an astronaut to the moon is 2025.

This year is the 46th anniversary of China's space program, which has bolstered its spending in the past decade in an effort to catch up with the United States and Russia.

Chinese official media reported that the space program expects to complete 20 launches this year, including the deployment of the world's first quantum communications satellite and a military satellite.

The Chinese word for Shenzhou means "heavenly vessel" and Tiangong means "heavenly palace."

New York Times