Beijing : The three astronauts aboard China’s Shenzhou-23 spacecraft entered the Tiangong space station, where they met the crew of the Shenzhou-21 mission, marking the start of a new round of in-orbit handover operations between the two crews as part of China’s manned space programme.
The two crews are scheduled over the coming days to carry out handover work inside the space station, alongside continuing scientific experiments and technical tasks related to the operation of the Tiangong station.
China launched the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft on Sunday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the north-west of the country aboard a Long March-2F carrier rocket, on a new mission to transport three astronauts to the Chinese orbital station.
The mission forms part of China’s ongoing efforts to expand its manned space programme and strengthen its presence in space exploration and orbital scientific experiments.
