Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Wednesday after spending six months in the national Tiangong space station ("Heavenly Palace"), according to a state media outlet, marking another step in China's assertion into space power.

The capsule carrying the trio, including Wang Haoze, the third Chinese woman in space, landed shortly after 1 p.m. (0500 GMT) in Inner Mongolia (north of China), the Xinhua news agency reported.

This marks the end of the Shenzhou-19 mission. China had postponed the crew's return, initially scheduled for Tuesday, due to poor weather conditions on the ground.

The country has invested billions of euros in its space program to catch up with the U.S. and Russia. It hopes to send a manned mission to the Moon by 2030 and build a lunar base.

The three astronauts of Shenzhou-19 had been working in the space station since October.

They conducted numerous experiments, contributed to Tiangong's maintenance, and set a new record for the longest spacewalk in history (over nine hours).

Among the three astronauts of Shenzhou-19 was 35-year-old Wang Haoze. The only Chinese aerospace engineer at the time of the mission launch, she became the third Chinese woman to reach space - after Liu Yang (2012) and Wang Yaping (2013).

The crew was led by Cai Xuzhe, 48, an experienced astronaut who had already participated in Shenzhou-14.

They were accompanied by Song Lingdong, a 34-year-old former air force pilot, who was on his first space flight.

Three new astronauts took off last week to Tiangong, marking the start of the Shenzhou-20 mission. They cohabited for a few days with their Shenzhou-19 colleagues.