Posted: Fri, Jan 17, 2003, 1:50 PM ET (1850 GMT)
Chinese officials have tentatively scheduled the first manned flight of its Shenzhou spacecraft for October of 2003, according to Chinese and Western reports published Friday. An article in the English-language edition of the People's Daily newspaper cited a report in the Hong Kong-based Sing Tao Jih Pao newspaper where officials said that the launch of Shenzhou 5 would take place in October. A "research official" with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation confirmed to the AFP news agency that the first manned launch is planned for "around October". China has launched four unmanned test flights of the Shenzhou spacecraft since 1999, part of a manned space flight program that started in 1992 and has cost China 19 billion yuan (US$2.3 billion), according to the AFP. The final test flight, Shenzhou 4, took place with a launch on December 29 and a landing one week later; all Chinese accounts of the mission indicate that the mission was a success. The People’s Daily report did state that the launch of Shenzhou 4 was delayed one day because weather conditions were too cold — -28 degrees Celsius — to permit the launch according to the program's rules.

Related Links:

•  AFP article
•  People's Daily article