The Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou XIX mission crew lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Wednesday morning. [Photo by Gu Jianwen/for chinadaily.com.cn]

Cai was part of the six-month Shenzhou XIV mission that lasted from June to December 2022. For Song and Wang, this is their first extraterrestrial journey.

The launch saw Wang Haoze, 34, become the third Chinese woman to go into space, after Liu Yang and Wang Yaping, and also the first female spaceflight engineer.