• Three Chinese astronauts entered the country’s new space station module after their spaceship successfully docked with it, hours after the launch from the Gobi Desert. 

• According to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), Shenzhou-12 manned spaceship successfully docked with the space station core module Tianhe on June 17 and entered the orbital capsule from the return capsule of the spaceship.

• Shenzhou-12 spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China’s Gobi Desert.

• In a textbook launch, Shenzhou-12 sent the three astronauts into the same orbit of the core module of the space station Tianhe launched in April.

• This is Tianhe’s first rendezvous and docking with a Shenzhou spaceship since it was sent into orbit on April 29.

• After a series of preparations, the astronauts opened the hatches of the node and the Tianhe module and entered the Tianhe module one by one, signifying that for the first time the Chinese have entered their own space station.

• Billed as the most prestigious and strategically important space project for China after the country’s recent Mars and previous Moon missions, the low orbit space station would be the country’s eye from the sky, providing round the clock bird’s-eye view for its astronauts on the rest of the world.

• The space station will operate in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 340-450 km above Earth’s surface for more than 10 years.

• The astronauts will stay there for a three-month long mission to build the space station, which is expected to be ready by next year.

• The three astronauts, who will build the station, are expected to set a new record for China’s manned space mission duration, exceeding the 33 days kept by the Shenzhou-11 crew in 2016.

• China previously sent the space station’s Tianhe core cabin module on April 29, and a cargo spacecraft with supplies on May 29.

• China’s space station will be equipped with a robotic-arm over which the US has raised concerns for its possible military applications. The arm, which can be stretched to 15 metres, will also play a vital role in building the space station in orbit. Astronauts will team up with the robotic arm to make in-orbit space station construction and maintenance possible.

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