BEIJING: Three astronauts, including a woman, 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 on Wednesday (2027 GMT, Tuesday) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia, Gansu province.
On board are Cai Xuzhe, 48, Song Lingdong, 34, and Wang Haoze, 34. Wang is the first female Chinese astronaut, while Cai serves as the leader for this mission—his second in just 22 months.
Upon arrival, the crew met with other astronauts, known as taikonauts in China, to initiate a new phase of in-orbit crew handover.
The Shenzhou-19 team will take over space operations from the Shenzhou-18 taikonauts, who are preparing to return home after spending six months conducting research in space.
“We have been training as a team for over a year, maintaining the best condition and the highest standards,” Cai stated before the launch. China’s crewed space missions began with Shenzhou-5 in 2003.
Currently, Ye Guangfu and his teammates Li Cong and Li Guangsu from the Shenzhou-18 crew are aboard China’s domestically built Tiangong space station. They launched on April 25 and are expected to return on November 4 at the Dongfeng Landing Site.
