JIUQUAN, Nov. 29 -- A see-off ceremony for three Chinese astronauts of the Shenzhou-15 manned space mission was held on Tuesday evening at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

At the command of Xu Xueqiang, commander-in-chief of China's manned space program, astronauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu set off at 8:19 p.m. (Beijing Time).

The three astronauts have received years of arduous training for this six-month mission, during which the construction of China's space station will be officially completed, said the CMSA.

The Shenzhou-15 spaceship is expected to be launched at 11:08 p.m. Tuesday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.