Three astronauts aboard China’s Shenzhou-23 spacecraft successfully entered the Tiangong space station on Monday, marking the beginning of a new in-orbit crew handover mission.

According to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the crew of the Shenzhou-21 mission opened the station hatch at 5:13 am Beijing Time to welcome the newly arrived astronauts.

The meeting of the two astronaut teams officially started the crew rotation process aboard China’s Tiangong space station. During the handover period, both crews will work together in orbit before the Shenzhou-21 astronauts return to Earth.

The Tiangong space station remains a key part of China’s growing space program, supporting long-term human space missions, scientific experiments, and technology testing in space.

The successful arrival of the Shenzhou-23 crew highlights China’s continued progress in space exploration and its efforts to strengthen operations aboard the Tiangong station.