Three astronauts, including China’s first female astronaut, have successfully docked at the Chinese space station following the launch of the Shenzhou-19 crew early Wednesday.
The spacecraft lifted off aboard a Long March-2F rocket at 04:27 AM local time (2027 GMT on Tuesday) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia, Gansu province.
The crew consists of Commander Cai Xuzhe, 48, Song Lingdong, 34, and Wang Haoze, 34. This marks Cai’s second mission in 22 months.
Upon arrival, the new crew met with the Shenzhou-18 astronauts, known as taikonauts in China, to begin a handover of duties in orbit. The Shenzhou-19 crew will take over space operations from the Shenzhou-18 team, who have been conducting research for six months and are preparing to return home.
Cai stated before the launch, “We have been training as a team for over a year, maintaining peak condition and high standards.”
China’s first crewed mission, Shenzhou-5, was launched in 2003. Currently aboard the Tiangong space station are Ye Guangfu and his teammates Li Cong and Li Guangsu from the Shenzhou-18 crew, who launched on April 25 and are expected to return on November 4 at the Dongfeng Landing Site.
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