Chinese astronauts on Sunday successfully carried out the country's first spacewalk outside their space station, a significant milestone in its rapidly expanding space program.

Iran PressAsia: The spacewalk is only the second by Chinese astronauts since the Shenzhou 7 manned mission of 2008, which was conducted outside a spacecraft, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), CNN reported.

China launched three astronauts - Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming, and Tang Hongbo - in June. Two of them left the space station's core module on Sunday morning, called Tiangong or Heavenly Palace, the CMSA said.

During the spacewalk, they tested new-generation spacesuits, installed equipment, elevated a panoramic camera, and tested the station's robotic arm.

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