China has successfully launched its second space station--Tiangong--to space on Thursday.

The space lab blasted off into the sky on board a Long March 2F at 10:04 a.m. (ET) on Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, China Central Television reported.

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According to Wu Ping, deputy director of China's manned space engineering office, the 9.5-ton space lab would settle into an orbit about 380 kilometers above Earth for preliminary orbit tests as soon as it reaches space. Then, Tiangong-2 would transfer to a bit higher orbit at around 393 kilometers above the Earth, where the future Chinese space station will be operating, Xinhua reported.

The Tiangong-2, which means "Heavenly Palace," would be utilized for testing space technology and conducting medical and space experiments, Time reported.  It will also be used for "testing systems and processes for mid-term stays and refueling," according to the New York Times.

The launch comes five years after China launched its first satellite, the Tiangong-1, in September 2011.

"Tiangong is a precursor test bed of capabilities; building toward the large space station has always been the culminating goal of the Shenzhou program," Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor at the US Naval War College, told CNN.

Next month, the Shenzhou 11 spaceship will take two astronauts to the station to conduct research for a month related to biology, psychology, and medicine, according to BBC.    

China plans to create a manned space station by 2022 as well as land a rover on Mars by 2020.

TagsTiangong-2, space station, Space Lab, china