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China space mission set for late September: report
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    • BEIJING, Sept 7 (AFP) Sep 07, 2008
     China's third manned space flight, which will feature China's first attempted space walk, will blast off in late September, state media reported.

    The launch of the Shenzhou VII will take place "at an appropriate time between September 25 and 30," Xinhua news agency reported late Saturday.

    Xinhua quoted an unnamed spokesman at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province, from where the mission will take off.

    The launch schedule has been changed several times, with previous Chinese state media reports suggesting an October or November launch.

    Three astronauts will be on board, with one of them conducting China's first space walk -- which will be broadcast live, the report said.

    China successfully launched its first man into orbit, Yang Liwei, in 2003, making it the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to put a man in space.

    It sent two more astronauts into orbit in 2005 on a five-day mission.

    Xinhua did not say how long the Shenzhou VII mission would last.




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