# Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth today after six months on the country’s Tiangong space station, as Beijing advances towards its aim to become a major celestial power. China has ploughed billions of rands into its space programme in recent years in an effort to achieve what President Xi Jinping describes as the country’s space dream. The world’s second-largest economy has bold plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by the end of the decade and eventually build a base on the lunar surface.
Chinese astronauts return from Tiangong space station