Chinese astronauts stranded on Shenzhou-20 space station to return on replacement crew's spacecraft

A three-person crew stranded at China's space station after their spacecraft was reportedly hit by space debris are preparing to return on Friday using the craft that brought their replacement crew.

The three astronauts — Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie — travelled to the Tiangong space station in April.

According to state media, the three astronauts were on a six-month rotation at the space station and were scheduled to return four days after the new crew arrived on November 1.

However, their return was aborted after their Shenzhou-20 spacecraft was believed to have been struck by a small piece of space debris.

“They are coming back using the Shenzhou-21 craft instead,” state media said.

China's Manned Space Engineering Office said that the astronauts were “in good condition, working and living normally”.

“Our fixed goal of China landing a person on the moon by 2030 is firm,” the CMSA said.

The latest Shenzhou-21 mission brought mice for experiments, a first for China's space program. The four lab mice, two male and two female, were to be the subjects of China's first in-orbit experiments on rodents.

The country has invested billions of dollars in it in an effort to catch up with the United States and Russia, following its exclusion from the International Space Station due to US national security concerns over the Chinese space programme's direct link to the People's Liberation Army.