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Beijing Cites Technical Issues Delaying Third Shenzhou Test
China indirectly confirmed Tuesday that the planned launch of a new spacecraft, the third in a series of unmanned flights designed to prepare the ground for sending an astronaut into space, had been delayed. Many space experts had expected the launch of the Shenzhou III (Divine Vessel III) at the end of last year or the start of 2002. However the Army Daily said Tuesday that a simulated launch using a computer had been carried out this month, indicating technical issues are still being worked out. China's space programme, which aims to make the country the third nation to put a human into space after the United States and the former Soviet Union, is notoriously secretive and launch dates are never publicly announced. The newspaper, which published a photograph of the Long March 2F carrier rocket which will be used to send the craft into space, said the test had taken place after the Lunar New Year period earlier this month. "To guarantee the launch takes place without incident during this lunar year, Jiuquan space centre made detailed preparations for a winter launch ... and imposed strict rules on testing" the newspaper said, without specifying when any launch would actually take place. According to Chen Lan, an independent Chinese space analyst who runs the "Go Taikonauts" website, said the Shenzhou III had been delayed "due to technical problems". The first unmanned test flight of the Shenzhou program was in November 1999, when the Shenzhou I orbited the earth 14 times in a 21-hour flight aimed mainly at testing launch and re-entry capabilities. The Shenzhou II, launched on January 9 2001, orbited the earth 108 times and tested life support systems before returning nearly a week later to a press blackout that left Western analysts suspecting a re-entry failure. Chinese officials, however, denied such reports, albeit vaguely. State press has previously quoted unnamed space officials as saying a manned space flight will take place before 2005. All rights reserved. � 2002 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
Tracking Fleet Continues Rehearsal
Tokyo - Feb 20, 2002China's fleet of four space tracking vessels continued their rehearsal for the next Shenzhou launch despite ongoing delays with what will be the third test launch of China's future manned spacecraft. Report of the exercise activities appeared in the People's Liberation Army Daily Feb 10.
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