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Matthias Maurer, a German astronaut with the European Space Agency and a material scientist, messaged in a tweet on Friday that he was "very excited for my dear friend Ye Guangfu finally going to space".

The trio will stay in orbit for six months, which will be a regular duration for following Chinese astronauts to work and live in the space station, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA.

During the Shenzhou XIII mission, the astronauts, whose names have yet to be disclosed, will be mainly tasked with demonstrating and testing key technologies involved in the assembly and future operations of the Chinese space station.

On Sept 18, the Tianzhou-2 cargo craft separated from the rear docking port of Tianhe and docked with its front docking port. Following Tianzhou-3's docking, the two cargo crafts are docked at the two ends of the Tianhe core module to form a linear shape, waiting for the arrival of Shenzhou-13 crew members.

The three astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo will begin their journey home, after living and working in the space station core module Tianhe for 90 days, the longest stay in space by Chinese astronauts.