China launched the second of three modules to its permanent space station, in one of the final missions needed to complete the orbiting outpost by year's end.

A live feed on state broadcaster CCTV showed the 23-tonne Wentian ("Quest for the Heavens") laboratory module launching on the back of China's most powerful rocket, the Long March 5B, at 2:22 p.m. (0622 GMT) from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the southern island of Hainan.

The launch was "a complete success", CCTV reported shortly after.

China began constructing the space station in April 2021 with the launch of the Tianhe module, the main living quarters, in the first of 11 crewed and uncrewed missions in the undertaking.