China's Shenzhou-7 mission is ready for launch later this month after a final check of the spacecraft, the rocket and the ground operation system on Tuesday morning.

Scientists simulated the ignition of the rocket and the in-flight moves of the capsule to test how the system and the observation, control and communication system at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center would work together.

The rocket will be loaded with fuel after an overall quality review and approval of mission headquarters. All settings of the spacecraft and the observation, control and communication system will be frozen until the launch.

The Shenzhou-7 spacecraft is scheduled for launch sometime between Sept. 25 and 30. The craft, its Long-March II-F carrier rocket and the escape tower were vertically transferred to the launch pad on Saturday.

Cui Jijun, commander-in-chief of the ground operation team, said technicians checked the rocket and spacecraft on Monday to test the functions after the transfer. "All work well," he said.

A team of six "taikonauts" (astronauts), including three selected crew and three back-ups, have arrived at Jiuquan. One of the taikonauts will conduct a space walk during the mission.

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Shenzhou-7 taikonauts in final training for liftoff
Six taikonauts (astronauts) selected for China's Shenzhou-7 space mission are in final training for the launch sometime from Sept. 25 to 30, says a senior mission official.

The candidates for the three-man mission rehearse basic procedures every day and study manuals to maintain their skills, Huang Weifen, deputy chief designer of the mission's flight system, said on Tuesday.

The six taikonauts arrived at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Sunday, where they were accommodated in a guarded quarantine facility to protect them from health risks.

Staff who entered the compound had to wear masks and sterile uniforms and undergo health checks, and were prohibited from shaking hands with the taikonauts, she said.

Doctors at the compound were closely monitoring the physical and psychological states of the taikonauts before the final crew was announced, she said.

Three taikonauts will fly on the Shenzhou-7 aircraft. One of them will perform a spacewalk.

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Shenzhou-7 astronauts to meet press before blast-off
The crew of China's Shenzhou-7 space mission is scheduled to meet the press at 17:30 on Thursday.

In addition, the headquarters of China's third manned space mission will hold another press conference at 14:30 Thursday.

The crew, who will conduct the first Chinese space walk, is waiting for a launch window at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province.

Depending on weather, the launch is scheduled between Sept. 25 and 30.

The Shenzhou-7 spacecraft will send three Chinese astronauts who will make a historical spacewalk.

Six Chinese astronauts are ready for the mission, three pilots who will finally be aboard and three substitutes.

However neither the military or the mission's headquarters has officially released their identities, even though many local websites had reported various stories on six favorites.

According to the headquarters' release, three pilots and three substitutes said they were fully confident to successfully accomplish the mission.

After three hours of tests and safety examinations in the last rehearsal on Monday, the mission has been given the green light.

Scientists working for the mission said on Tuesday that the carrier rocket of the spacecraft was ready to be fueled, bringing the launch to the countdown status.

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China says spacecraft launch has no military goals
China's launch later this week of a manned spacecraft will be geared toward economic and scientific goals with no military implications, the Xinhua news agency quoted the launch center's director as saying on Tuesday.

The Shenzhou-7 spacecraft with three astronauts on board is set to lift off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province, in the northwest of China, on September 25.

"China's space program is not pursuing any military goals but serves the country's scientific and economic development," the agency quoted Cui Jijun, commander-in-chief of the ground operation team, as saying.

One of the astronauts will make a spacewalk during the mission.

China, which has recently unveiled comprehensive space exploration plans, is only one of three countries in the world capable of independently launching manned spaceflights, along with the United States and Russia.

The country plans to build its own orbital space station and create a space laboratory before 2020.

In 2003 and 2005 the Shenzhou-5 and Shenzhou-6 spacecraft carried three Chinese astronauts into space.