Three Chinese astronauts, or taikonauts — Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu — will head onboard Shenzhou-13 spacecraft to the core module of China's space station at 00:23 am Beijing Time on Oct 16 (1623 GMT on Oct 15), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) announced on Oct 14 during a press briefing.

The Shenzhou-13 mission is the second of four manned missions for the construction of China's space station, Tiangong.

The trio will stay in space for six months, the longest ever in-orbit duration for taikonauts.

The launch will be carried out with a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. All facilities at the launch site are in good condition, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the CMSA.

After entering orbit, the spaceship will conduct a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the in-orbit space station core module Tianhe.

The taikonauts will live and work in the core module according to the same timetable as on Earth, said Lin.

After six months, they will return to the Dongfeng landing site in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region taking the return capsule.