Beijing, 30 April 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Three Chinese astronauts have returned safely to Earth after spending nearly six months aboard China’s Tiangong space station.

The Shenzhou 19 return capsule, carrying commander Cai Xuzhe, engineer Wang Haoze and former air force pilot Song Lingdong, touched down in the Gobi Desert on Wednesday afternoon, state television reported.

According to China's manned spaceflight agency, all three crew members are in good health. The landing had been scheduled for Tuesday but was delayed due to unfavourable weather conditions in the designated landing zone in Inner Mongolia.

Shenzhou 20 crew takes over

The return of Shenzhou 19 follows a successful crew rotation. The Shenzhou 20 team — Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie — has taken over duties aboard the Tiangong space station, orbiting some 400 kilometers above the Earth, and is also slated for a six-month stay.

As with past missions, the new crew will conduct a range of scientific experiments, including studies on the effects of spaceflight on small fish and worms. The results are expected to offer insights into human health in space. The astronauts will also perform spacewalks to install new shielding against space debris and carry out other maintenance tasks.

Lunar ambitions

Tiangong has been continuously inhabited since 2021 and is a key component of China's ambitious space program. Last year, China made headlines by successfully returning soil samples from the far side of the moon in an unmanned mission.

Beijing aims to achieve a manned moon landing by 2030. The space agency has said that system and equipment testing for the mission is proceeding as planned, with preparations accelerating ahead of future lunar expeditions.