China will send three astronauts into orbit on Thursday in a high-stakes mission, the first of four crewed space flights to complete the country's space station by the end of next year. China will launch Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo into orbit aboard the spacecraft Shenzhou-12 at 9:22 a.m. (0122 GMT) on June 17 from Jiuquan in northwestern Gansu province. Nie, 56,