"It is October 12 at 9:00 am," an official from the technical department of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, who refused to be named, told AFP.

The China National Space Administration said it could not confirm the date, which has been shrouded in secrecy.

"It is up to the people at the scene. Only they can decide the date and the time," said a spokeswoman at the international affairs department.

However, a travel agent taking domestic tourists to witness the launch said he had been advised to be at the site early Wednesday morning.

The six astronauts shortlisted for the two-member mission have arrived at the remote launch site in the Gobi desert, the China News Service said Monday.

It cited engineers at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, but did not give the names of the astronauts, who were grouped into three teams of two each.

Previous state-run press reports said that Zhai Zhigang and Nie Haisheng would likely pilot the five-day mission, which will return to earth in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

The Chongqing Morning Post, meanwhile, reported that strict limitations have been imposed on the media covering the event.

Chinese journalists who have gained access to the launch site have been ordered not to use cellphones or to access the Internet via wireless devices.

Three journalists who violated those rules have already been expelled from the area, according to the paper.

Other unconfirmed reports said local journalists have been ordered to pay 1,000 yuan (123 dollars) for access to the launch site.

This week's flight comes almost exactly two years after the successful October 15, 2003 launch of astronaut Yang Liwei into space, making China only the third nation after the United States and the former Soviet Union to accomplish such a feat.

During his 21-hour trip to space in 2003, Yang never left the re-entry capsule, but this time will be different.

The two astronauts are expected to enter into the orbital module in the front to conduct a large number of tests, many of them presumably designed to check their physical reactions to conditions in space.

Keenly aware of the military, scientific and commercial benefits of space exploration, China has been aggressively pursuing space travel for years.

Since its space program was set up in 1992 it has grown to employ tens of thousands of scientists and other personnel.

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