China's First Cargo Spacecraft Completes 2nd Docking with Space Lab

China’s first cargo spacecraft, the Tianzhou-1, has completed its second docking with the Tiangong-2 space lab, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO), the agency in charge of the nation’s manned space exploration program, said Monday.

The cargo spacecraft separated from the space lab on Monday morning and kept a 5-kilometer (8-mile) distance with it for about 90 minutes. After flying a full circle around the space lab, the Tianzhou-1 spacecraft docked with the Tiangong-2 space lab successfully, according to CMSEO.

"At 2:55 PM local time (6:55 GMT) on June 19, the Tienzhou-1 cargo spacecraft flew a full circle around the Tiangong-2 space lab and completed its second docking with the space lab," the agency said in a statement.

The Tianzhou-1 spacecraft was launched on April 20 from south China's Hainan Province and completed its first automated docking with the Tiangong-2 space lab on April 22.

After its launch, China said the Tianzhou-1 spacecraft is expected to dock with Tiangong-2 three times.

China plans to launch a new module of its space station in 2018 for testing respective technologies. The station is expected to be fully functional by 2022.