The combination of the Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship and a Long March-2F carrier rocket was transferred to the launching area in northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Thursday.

Sunday's meticulous pre-launch function checks and joint tests involved the entire process and all systems of the launch mission.

As part of the evaluations and validations of the launch facilities and vehicle, the three Shenzhou-17 crew members participated in a launch simulation to rehearse for an on-time liftoff.

Shi Yaoxin, a rocket engineer of the Long March-2F carrier rocket launch team from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, told China Media Group that the rocket systems completed the last flight simulation during the rehearsal on Sunday.

"It was a whole-process simulation that covered all instructed maneuvers in the power and electrical systems from ignition to the separation of the rocket and the spaceship," he said, adding that the rehearsal marks that all systems of the rocket are fully prepared for propellant filling and the final liftoff.

The Shenzhen-17 crew will be greeted aboard China's space station by the Shenzhou-16 astronauts who arrived at the space station on May 30.