Space lab begins tests in orbit, prepares for visit by astronauts

China's second space laboratory, the Tiangong II, began conducting in-orbit tests on Thursday, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

All of the spacecraft's scientific instruments have finished their self-examination since the lab was launched aboard a carrier rocket on Sept 15 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gobi Desert, the CAS said in a statement on Thursday.

The in-orbit tests will generate Tiangong II's first data for scientific research on Saturday, it said, without elaborating.