The United States on Wednesday congratulated China on the successful launch of its second manned space flight and expressed support for human efforts to make the peaceful use of space.

"We obviously congratulate China on the successful launch of its second manned space mission," said deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.

"Furthermore we would applaud China and its success as only the third country to launch people into space," Ereli said.

"Our view is that the peaceful use of space is something that is appropriate and we welcome China's developments in this area," he added.

In a brief statement, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin hailed the latest achievement by China in space exploration.

"China, once again, has demonstrated that it is among the elite number of countries capable of human space flight. We wish them well on their mission, and we look forward to the safe return of their astronauts."

An official of NASA's Public Relation Office said Griffin wrote this statement early in Wednesday morning (EST) after he learnt the successful launch.

China launched the spacecraft, Shenzhou VI, on a five-day mission from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 9:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) Tuesday. Two astronauts are aboard the spacecraft.

China's first manned space flight, with one astronaut aboard, occurred two years ago.

Source: Xinhua