The Shenzhou-19 spacecraft has successfully docked with China's Tiangong orbital station. The three-person crew, including the first female space engineer, met with the previous team for a five-day rotation.

The Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou-19 with a crew of three, including the country's first female space engineer, docked with the Chinese orbital station, UNN reports citing Xinhua.

Details

"China's Shenzhou-19 manned spacecraft successfully docked with the space station's rendezvous on Wednesday," the China Manned Space Program Administration (CMSA) reported.

At 11:00 a.m. on October 30 (Beijing time), the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft made a rapid automatic approach and docking with the space station's Tianhe core module's forward docking assembly.

"The launch has been recognized as a complete success," the publication writes.

Later, three taikonauts aboard China's Shenzhou-19 spacecraft entered China's Tiangong space station and met with three members of another crew, beginning a new round of crew rotation in orbit.

According to CMSA, the crew of the Shenzhou-18 mission opened the hatch at 12:51 a.m. Beijing time and greeted their successors.

According to CMSA, all six taikonauts will live and work together for five days to complete the scheduled tasks and shift work.

The Shenzhou-18 crew is scheduled to return from space on November 4 to the Dongfeng landing site in northern China.

Addendum

Early Wednesday morning (Beijing time), the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft was launched from the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in northwestern China using a Chang Zheng-2F rocket.