The return cabin of the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft lands at Dongfeng on April 16. Photo: XINHUA

Huang Weifen, chief designer of the China manned space program's astronaut system, told a press conference that both crews will be in orbit for six months. The Shenzhou-14 crew will work in the Wentian and Mengtian lab cabins. The Shenzhou-15 crew will perform extravehicular activities; assemble, test and debug the payload inside the module; and control the robotic arm to install the extravehicular payload.

On Saturday, the three astronauts of the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft returned to Earth after 183 working days on the Tiangong Space Station, which is under construction. China began construction of Tiangong in April 2021. Once completed, this space station will operate at an altitude of 400-450km above the Earth’s surface and can operate for 10 years.