A Chinese crew of three astronauts returned to Earth on Monday after a stay of more than six months aboard the Tiangong space station, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu were “in good health” after landing in their return capsule at the Dongfeng site in Inner Mongolia, the agency said.
The three men arrived at the Tiangong station in late April and were joined there on October 30 by three new astronauts, two men and a woman, with whom they undertook a five-day handover before beginning their return journey.
The Tiangong space station, crewed by teams of three astronauts who rotate every three to six months, is the jewel of China’s space program.
Its central module was launched in 2021 and is expected to be used for around ten years.
Beijing says it is on track to send a manned mission to the moon by 2030, where it plans to build a base.
