China achieved another milestone in its space program with the successful docking of two spacecraft Thursday. The Shenzhou-8 and space lab module Tiangong-1 made the historic docking at 1:36 a.m. local time, according to Wu Ping, spokeswoman for the space program.

All equipment in the Shenzhou-8 worked, People Daily quoted Wu as saying. There are more than 600 sets of equipment aboard the spacecraft plus the precision docking system, all made in China.

The docking system, composed of up to 10,000 parts, was developed by Chinese research institutions led by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, Wu added.

The spacecraft will fly together for about 12 days and then conduct another space docking and fly together for another two days before the Shenzhou-8 returns to Earth Nov. 17.

With the feat, China remains in line with its ambitious manned space program, including the building of a space station.
Two more space dockings will be conducted next year. The Shenzhou-8 will also conduct scientific experiments by Chinese and international scientists.

In 2016, the construction of the space station will start and this is planned to be completed by 2020, the year of the scheduled decommissioning of the International Space Station.