This rendezvous and docking capability is a prerequisite if larger structures are ever to be assembled in orbit.

BBC: China ready for next space leap

"Rendezvous and docking is a sophisticated technology, " said Yang Hong, Tiangong-1's chief designer.

BBC: Rocket launches Chinese space lab

Its automatic rendezvous and docking technology allows it to find its own way to the station and attach itself without any human intervention.

BBC: Europe's new space truck takes shape

That the United States and the Soviet Union demonstrated crewed rendezvous and docking operations more than 40 years ago is not the point.

CNN: China's giant, quiet step in space

This is likely to lead to an evolved ATV, one that keeps its core rendezvous and docking technologies but is updated to fulfil new tasks.

BBC: Johannes Kepler freighter docks with space station

As Gemini 8 Command Pilot, his March 16, 1966 mission with Pilot David Scott entailed complex rendezvous and docking maneuvers with an unmanned Agena target vehicle which ultimately required recovery from a harrowing, out-of-control spacecraft roll.

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It will develop orbiting fuel depots, rendezvous-and-docking technologies, advanced life-support systems that recycle all of their materials, and better motors for spacecraft.

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