A three-member Chinese crew has returned to Earth after more than six months aboard the Tiangong space station, state news agency Xinhua reported.
"Ye Guangfu, Li Kon and Li Guangsu are in good health after landing in the reverse capsule of the Shenzhou spacecraft at the Dongfeng Landing Site in Inner Mongolia," the agency added.
The three traveled to Tianjin in late April and were replaced on October 30 by three new astronauts, including the country's only female space flight engineer.
China has accelerated plans to achieve its "space dream" under the leadership of President Xi Jinping.
Its space program is the third to put humans into orbit, and it has also landed robotic rovers on Mars and the moon.
The Tiangong Space Station, crewed by teams of three astronauts that rotate every 3 and 6 months, is the crown jewel of the program.
Its main module was launched in 2021 and is planned to be used for about 10 years.
Beijing says it is on track to send a manned mission to the moon by 2030, where it intends to build a base on the lunar surface. | BGNES
