China's Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft docked to the Tiangong-2 space lab on Saturday (April 21), two days after its launch.
It was the first of three dockings planned between the spacecraft and orbiting module.
Tianzhou-1 began its approach to the Tiangong-2 at 10:02 p.m. EDT on Friday (0202 GMT or 10:02 a.m. Saturday Beijing time) and made contact with the lab at 12:16 a.m. EDT Saturday (0416 GMT; 12:16 p.m. Beijing time).
The second docking will follow a different approach to test the ability of the ship to dock with a future space station at different directions. In the third docking, Tianzhou-1 will perform a "fast-track" docking.
Tianzhou-1 will also refuel Tiangong-2, a multi-step process that will require several days to complete.