Taikonauts blast off

A rocket carrying two Chinese astronauts on the country's second manned space mission blasted off from a heavily guarded launch base in the country's desert northwest.

The Shenzhou 6 capsule's mission, reportedly due to last up to five days, comes nearly two years after China's first manned mission made it only the third nation to send a human into orbit on its own.

The Long March rocket carrying astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre.