China's Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship docks with space station combination

This simulated image captured at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China shows the manned spaceship Shenzhou-15 conducting a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the space station's Tianhe module on Nov. 30, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

BEIJING, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship successfully docked with the space station combination early on Wednesday, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The spaceship, launched on Tuesday night, conducted a fast automated rendezvous and docked with the front port of the space station's Tianhe module at 5:42 a.m. Wednesday (Beijing Time), said the CMSA.

The whole process took approximately 6.5 hours, the CMSA said.

The astronaut trio aboard Shenzhou-15 will then enter the Tianhe module and the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-14 crew have gotten ready for the arrival of the Shenzhou-15 crew, it said.

It is the first time that Chinese astronauts aboard the space station have seen the visit of a crewed spaceship, according to the CMSA.

The spaceship, atop the Long March-2F Y15 carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 11:08 p.m. Tuesday (Beijing Time). 

This image captured at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China shows the manned spaceship Shenzhou-15 successfully docking with the front port of the space station's Tianhe module on Nov. 30, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Technical personnel monitor China's Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship conducting a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the space station's Tianhe module at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, Nov. 30, 2022. (Photo by Ge Lixin/Xinhua)

This image captured at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China shows the manned spaceship Shenzhou-15 conducting a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the space station's Tianhe module on Nov. 30, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

This image captured at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China shows the crew of China's Shenzhou-14 manned spaceship observing the Shenzhou-15 spaceship conducting a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the space station's Tianhe module on Nov. 30, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)