BEIJING - Three astronauts who are performing China's space mission in orbiting Tiangong-1 module Saturday sent Dragon Boat Festival greetings to all Chinese.

The Dragon Boat Festival falls on June 23 this year and it is the first time for Chinese astronauts to celebrate this traditional Chinese festival in space.

The astronauts, Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, appeared in front of a camera in Tiangong-1 lab module at around 12 pm and had dialogues with ground staff.

"On this traditional Chinese festival, we three astronauts wish all Chinese a happy Dragon Boat Festival," said Jing, who sent festival greetings from space on behalf of his crew mates.

Jiang later wrote down "Happy Dragon Boat Festival" in Chinese on his flight manual. Liu Wang and Liu Yang also signed their names on it.

After Jing showed his flight manual to the ground staff via camera, applause erupted in the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.