Three Chinese astronauts stranded at their nation's space station after their spacecraft was apparently hit with space debris departed for home using the craft that had brought a replacement crew, China's space agency says.

The astronauts were on a six-month rotation at the space station and originally scheduled to return on November 5, four days after the new crew arrived.

Their return was delayed for more than a week.

China's Manned Space Engineering Office said there were minor cracks in a window of the return capsule of the Shenzhou-20 spacecraft, most likely caused by impact from space debris.

There are millions of pieces of mostly tiny debris circling the earth at speeds faster than a bullet flies.

They can come from launches and collisions and pose a risk to satellites, space s

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