China's Shenzhou XV manned spaceship docks with space station combination

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Shenzhou XV crew set out for Tiangong space station

China's Shenzhou XV manned spaceship successfully docked with the space station combination early on Wednesday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The spaceship, launched on Tuesday night, conducted a fast automated rendezvous and docked with the front port of the space station's Tianhe module at 5:42 am Wednesday (Beijing Time), said the CMSA.

The whole process took approximately 6.5 hours, the CMSA said.

The astronaut trio aboard Shenzhou-15 will then enter the Tianhe module and the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-14 crew have gotten ready for the arrival of the Shenzhou-15 crew, it said.

It is the first time that Chinese astronauts aboard the space station have seen the visit of a crewed spaceship, according to the CMSA.

The spaceship, atop the Long March-2F Y15 carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China at 11:08 pm Tuesday (Beijing Time).