The three crew members of Shenzhou XIX entered the Tiangong space station on Wednesday afternoon, as the spaceship successfully completed docking maneuvers after a long-haul flight.

Mission commander Senior Colonel Cai Xuzhe, Lieutenant Colonel Song Lingdong and Lieutenant Colonel Wang Haoze were greeted with hugs at the space station by their Shenzhou XVIII peers, who are scheduled to return to Earth early next week.

Shenzhou XIX, which started its journey into space atop a Long March 2F carrier rocket that blasted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China at 4:27 am on Wednesday, docked with the front port of the Tianhe core module — the main body of Tiangong — after a six-and-a-half-hour flight.

Following the docking process, the Shenzhou XIX crew spent nearly two hours on preparatory work to enter the space station, which included readying related equipment and changing into intravehicular suits from their pressure suits.

Meanwhile, the Shenzhou XVIII astronauts — mission commander Senior Colonel Ye Guangfu and crew members Lieutenant Colonel Li Cong and Lieutenant Colonel Li Guangsu — waited inside the connection cabin.

After all preparations were done, Ye's team opened a hatch in the connection cabin at 12:51 pm to welcome the new team of astronauts. The first to step out of the Shenzhou XIX spaceship was Cai, followed by Song and Wang, who were all welcomed with hugs by the Shenzhou XVIII astronauts.

The six astronauts then exchanged greetings inside the Tianhe module. Ye said he and his team were very happy and excited to see the arrival of Cai's crew, adding that over the next few days, the two teams will work together inside "this space home".

Cai responded by saying it feels great to see "there are people waiting here for us", and that he always wished to return to the space station.

"And now I am back, and it feels very good to see all these familiar things inside Tiangong. I am so happy to see that you have run this station very well and done so many excellent jobs. We will learn from you, and please share with us your valuable experience," he added.

Li Cong and Li Guangsu said they look forward to spending the next few days with the new team, and have prepared the sleeping and sanitary quarters for the team. They said they have also prepared some "surprise gifts" for the new crew to discover and have planted lettuce that they wish to share.

After their chat, the six astronauts posed for group photos amid cheers from ground controllers. They held each other's arms to form a circle, in a spontaneous show of happiness and excitement.

The meeting of the two groups of astronauts marked the beginning of the fifth in-orbit shift inside the Tiangong space station, one of the largest and most advanced structures ever deployed into the Earth's orbit.

The Shenzhou XIX team is the eighth group of inhabitants aboard Tiangong, which was completed in late 2022. The six astronauts will work together for about five days, and the Shenzhou XVIII crew will depart for Earth on Monday.