The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou-19 spaceflight mission have entered the Tiangong space station and met with another astronaut trio on Wednesday, starting a new round of in-orbit crew handover.

The Shenzhou-18 crew opened the hatch at 12:51 p.m. (Beijing Time) and greeted the new arrivals, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The six crew members then took group pictures for the fifth space get-together in China's aerospace history.

They will live and work together for about five days to complete planned tasks and handover work, the CMSA said.

The Shenzhou-18 crew is scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China on Nov. 4.