The crew members will coincide with three astronauts who are in the space station under construction and will be in charge of concluding the Tiangong station.

According to the spokesperson for the China Manned Space Agency, Ji Qiming, the Shenzhou-15 spaceship is expected to be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Tuesday morning.

After entering into orbit, it will automatically dock with the space station’s core module.

The astronauts will stay in orbit for about six months to finish building the country’s space station.

However, they will test the space station’s ability to accommodate the rotation of different space missions when they meet for a week with the members of the Shenzhou-14 spaceship and then be transferred to the Shenzhou-16 spaceflight mission.

Ji informed that as of 2023, the Tiangong station would begin receiving payloads from international projects selected by China, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, and the European Space Agency.

The Tiangong station would operate in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 340-450 kilometers. It is expected to have a lifetime of ten years.

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