Three astronauts who have been in space for months have been left stranded after their capsule was hit by a mystery object.

Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie are trapped with China's Manned Spaceflight Agency confirming all aboard the Shenzhou-20 mission on the Tiangong space station are marooned.

In a statement, the CMSA said: “The Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft is suspected to have been struck by a small piece of orbital debris, and assessment of the impact and associated risks is currently under way.

“To ensure the health and safety of the astronauts and the successful completion of the mission, it has been decided that the originally planned return of Shenzhou-20 on November 5 will be postponed.”

They men were scheduled to return to Earth on Wednesday, but their journey home

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