manned spacecraft Shenzhou-16with three astronauts on board, arrived at China’s Tiangong Space Station at 8:29 UTC May 30 for five month mission.

Shenzhou-16 took off at 01:31 UTC.— just seven hours before— through Rocket “Changzheng-2F” from the Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China.

The space station has a new crew of Jing Haipeng, Zhu Yangzhu and Gui Haichao (the first Chinese civilian astronaut in space) was received by Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, crew members of the Shenzhou-15 mission, which arrived at the orbital complex in November 2022.

Astronauts Shenzhou-16 will conduct large-scale tests and experiments in orbit in various areas, as planned. They are expected to reach scientific achievements of a high level in the field of studying quantum phenomena new high-precision space-time frequency systems, testing the general theory of relativity and the origin of life, Xinhua reports.

The new crew will witness docking of the Tianzhou-5 cargo ship and the Shenzhou-17 spacecraftas well as the departure of the manned spacecraft Shenzhou-15 and Tianzhou-5.

Tiangong, which will operate for about ten years, is likely to become the only space station in the world if the International Space Station, an initiative led by the United States and denied access to China due to military ties to its space program, is decommissioned this year as planned.