BEIJING, April 24 (Reuters) - China sent three astronauts to its permanently inhabited Tiangong space station on Thursday in its 15th crewed spaceflight and 20th overall in its Shenzhou program, which started more than three decades ago.

The spacecraft Shenzhou-20 and the crew lifted off atop a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China at 5:17 p.m. (0917 GMT), according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The spaceship successfully docked with the space station, state news agency Xinhua reported later in the day, citing the China Manned Space Agency.

The launch comes as China's advances in lunar and space exploration draw in more countries.

Pakistan, which aims to send an astronaut on a future Shenzhou flight - making them the first foreign astronaut to enter China's space station - is currently carrying out a preliminary selection process.

Photo from Reuters