• China successfully completes space docking

Tiangong 1 was sent into space in September 2011. It docked with the Shenzhou 8 unmanned spacecraft last November and the manned Shenzhou 9 in June this year, verifying China's space docking capabilities.

Shenzhou 9 blasted off on June 16 this year for its mission, and its three astronauts spent more than 10 days in space. They successfully completed the first manned rendezvous and docking mission with Tiangong 1 as well as a number of experiments, making huge breakthroughs for China's manned space engineering program.

China is the third country after the U.S. and Russia to independently acquire manned spaceflights, space walking and space docking technologies. [Full story]

• Full coverage: China's first space lab