China’s Shenzhou-10 spacecraft successfully conducted an automatic docking with the Tiangong-1 orbital capsule on Thursday.
The three astronauts in the spacecraft were all in good condition and would soon enter Tiangong-1 to carry out scientific experiments and technological trials, mission controllers reported.
The docking was the fifth such manoeuvre with the orbital capsule since its launch in September 2011, the China Manned Space Engineering Programme said on its website.
Astronauts Nie Haishang, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping – China’s second woman in space – are also scheduled to conduct a manual docking during their 15-day mission.
Launched on Tuesday, Shenzhou-10 is China’s fifth and longest scheduled manned space mission. It marks a key step toward China’s goal of assembling a permanent space station by 2020.
In 2003, China became the third nation to launch an astronaut into space, after Russia and the United States.