Full coverage: China Tiangong-2 Space Lab Launch

For more analysis, we cross to Pallava Bagla in New Delhi. He's the science editor of New Delhi Television and the author of 'Reaching for the Stars: India's Journey to Mars and Beyond'.

Q1. The two astronauts will remain in space for a total of 33 days, and the Shenzhou 11 will dock with the Tiangong 2 space lab on Wednesday. Tell us about what it means on the technical level.

Q2.  The Shenzhou-11 mission is China'a longest-ever manned space mission.  Apart from experiments in medicine and various space-related technologies, the crew will also be testing systems and processes in preparation for the launching of China's space station's core module in 2018. And the entire station is designed to begin full operation in 2022 and to operate for at least a decade. Is there any possible collaboration with the International Space Station? At what stage is China in the space race?