China has joined two space vehicles together in orbit for the first time.
The unmanned Shenzhou 8 craft, launched earlier this week, made contact with the Tiangong-1 space lab at 1729 GMT. The union occurred over China itself.
Being able to dock two space vehicles together is a necessary capability for China if it wants to start building a space station towards the decade’s end.
Although no astronauts were in the Shenzhou craft this time, future missions will carry people.
Categories: China, Space Exploration