Astronauts arrive at space station

China’s Shenzhou-13 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, docked at its Tiangong space station yesterday, kicking off a recordsetting six-month stay.

The spacecraft was launched by a Long March-2f rocket at 12.23am local time yesterday and docked with the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station six-and-a half hours later.

The two men and one woman are the second crew to move into the space station, which was launched last April. The first crew stayed three months.

The trio will set a new record for the length of time spent in space by Chinese astronauts as the country moves towards complete the orbiting structure.