The Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship is set to head for the China Space Station over the coming days, with the manned spacecraft carried by a rocket connected to the system at the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

The deputy chief designer of the China Manned Space Program's taikonaut system told CGTN that everything is in place and that preparations are being made for the next phase.

"Since our team arrived, we've completed a series of tests and loaded the materials. Now the results are normal, and we're proceeding well," said Li Yinghui, who is also a researcher at the Astronaut Center of China.

"Then we've prepared for the coming of the taikonauts. Their clothes, materials and working environment are all in position," the deputy chief designer said.

Li added that for the upcoming mission, there are also aerospace medical experiments, and they are preparing the samples and loading them into the capsule.

This is the first manned mission for China's Tiangong Space Station since it entered its operational phase. On Monday afternoon, the Shenzhou-16 manned spacecraft carried by the 16th Long March 2-F rocket was transported to the launch pad.

As to their condition, Liu Haibo, the deputy chief engineer of the launch support system for the Long March-2F carrier rocket, said that before transportation, four general inspections were run successively, and it was confirmed that the state of the rocket was very good.

"Next, the rocket will go through another functional check. The test to ensure it fits will take place, and the whole launch site will undergo a rehearsal. It will be refueled, and finally the ignition will occur, and then the launch," Liu said.

The Shenzhou-16 mission to be conducted in the coming days will see three taikonauts enter the Tiangong Space Station, swapping places with the three Shenzhou-15 taikonauts currently in low earth orbit.