On November 2, 2011 at 17:28 UTC two Chinese spacecraft accomplished the country's first space docking procedure. The Chinese"Shenzhou-8” unmanned spacecraft docked with the "Tiangong-1” space lab module at 01:28 a.m. Beijing time on November 3, 2011 marking another great leap for China's space program.
The success of the docking procedure makes China the third country in the world, after the United States and Russia, to master the technique, moving the country one step closer to establishing its own space station.
President of China Hu Jintao, who was in France for the G-20 summit, sent a congratulatory message on the success of the country's first-ever space docking.
