spacetoday.net: China plans third manned launch this month

China plans third manned launch this month

Posted: Mon, Sep 8, 2008, 8:46 PM ET (0046 GMT)
Long March 2F launch of Shenzhou 6 (Xinhua)

China will launch its third human spaceflight mission, Shenzhou 7, by the end of this month, Chinese media reported this weekend. According to a report by the official news agency Xinhua, the launch of Shenzhou 7 is planned for the September25-30 period. A crew of three is expected to fly on the mission, with one of them performing the first Chinese spacewalk. Other details about the mission, including the identities of the crew and the mission's duration, have not been disclosed. Shenzhou 7 would come nearly three years after the previous Chinese manned mission, Shenzhou 6, in October 2005; that mission flew two years after the first mission, Shenzhou 5.