The Shenzhou XIX team will then float into the space station to meet their Shenzhou XVIII mission peers, who have been in orbit for six months.

The crews will spend about four days together as the previous team hands over to the newcomers. Cai and his teammates will then take over Tiangong, and the Shenzhou XVIII crew will fly back to Earth on Monday.

The Shenzhou XIX team will be the eighth batch of inhabitants of the space station, which was completed in late 2022.

The three astronauts will perform a host of tasks include carrying out scientific experiments and technological demonstrations; conducting spacewalks to install space debris shield equipment and other external devices; retrieving instruments from outside the space station; and performing science lectures.

Their work will relate to multiple research disciplines such as microgravity physics, material science, space medicine, spacecraft technology and life science, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency.