Next month, a new Russian docking module will become the latest addition to Alpha.

CNN: Spacewalkers hang experiments on Alpha

The three will return to the spacecraft again and separate the module for the manual docking to be performed by Liu Wang.

FORBES: China Astronauts Prepare For Historic Weekend Mission

The astronauts are aiming to complete China's first manned docking with the Tiangong-1 module already in orbit, an important first step towards China's aim of creating a working space station by 2020.

BBC: China's female astronaut quandary

Alpha will consist of a complex of connected spacecraft: a Sundancer and a BA330 for customer use, a second Sundancer that will house Bigelow crew to maintain the station and a module that provides a power bus and docking node.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Russian flight controllers reloaded a software upgrade into the computers of the Zvezda module to prepare for the arrival of the docking port.

CNN: Spacewalkers hang experiments on Alpha

Manual docking requires astronauts to have a precise judgement on the relative distance between Shenzhou IX and the Tiangong-1 module, a challenge to their capability of coordination, accuracy and psychological stability.

FORBES: China's Space Age Grows Up As U.S. Space Race Winds Down

This successful docking of the Tiangong-1 was merely the first step toward habitation: the Shenzhou 9 crew have boarded the module and will be living on board for thirteen days.

FORBES: China's First Manned Docking of Space Module Is a Success...and a First Step