Last night, the Wentian lab module was launched from the Wenchang space base in the tropical island province of Hainan on Sunday, with a view to expanding China's positioning within the space research sector.
The module docked successfully with the Tiangong station’s main Tianhe living module at 3.13am on Monday (8.13pm on Sunday BST), after 13 hours of flight, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
The Wentian is the heaviest single-module spacecraft currently in space, according to the state-owned Global Times. Its name means 'Quest for the Heavens'.
China space station / CMS
Image credit: CMS
The 23-tonne lab has been designed for science and biology experiments and is only one of the two modules that will form the final laboratory. The second module...