China’s space program marked another milestone early Saturday as the three astronauts aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft entered the Tiangong space station, joining the outgoing Shenzhou-20 crew for a week-long handover in orbit.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) confirmed that the Shenzhou-21 crew successfully docked with Tiangong and entered the station at 4:58 a.m. Beijing Time. The event marked the seventh in-orbit crew handover in China’s human spaceflight program. During this overlap, the six astronauts will complete mission briefings, system checks, and maintenance tasks before the Shenzhou-20 team returns to Earth.