China's cargo spacecraft Tianzhou 1 completed an automated fast-docking operation with the Tiangong II space laboratory late on Tuesday night, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Tianzhou 1 began its approach to the space lab at 5:24 pm and spent six and a half hours for the docking, which was completed at 11:58 pm, the agency said in a news release.

It was the third docking sequence between the two spacecraft and the first that was done with the fast-docking technology. The previous two dockings took about two days each.