After being launched from the Gobi Desert in northwest China late on Tuesday, the Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou-15, carrying three astronauts arrived successfully at the Tiangong space station on Wednesday.
Tuesday at 11:08 p.m. (local time), a Long March-2F carrier rocket carrying the spacecraft blasted out from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gansu Province.
The mission marks the first crew handover in orbit for China. At a press conference held in advance of the launch, the Chinese space agency said that the team would be led by veteran Fei Junlong and two rookie astronauts, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu.
Fei oversaw the Shenzhou-6 mission back in 2005. After 17 years, the 57-year-old is going back into space. His group will occupy the Tiangong space station with three additional astronauts who arrived in early June.
China built and manages the Tiangong space station, which is located in a low Earth orbit between 340 and 450 kilometres above the planet’s surface. It is a crucial component of Beijing’s expansive space programme.
China sought to send robotic rovers to the Moon and Mars. China became the third nation to put humans in orbit.
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