spacetoday.net: China plans next human mission for this summer

China plans next human mission for this summer

Posted: Sun, Feb 19, 2012, 10:41 AM ET (1541 GMT)
Long March 2F launch of Shenzhou 8 (Xinhua)

Chinese media reported Friday that the country's next human spaceflight is now scheduled for this summer, and will feature a docking with its Tiangong-1 module. The official news agency Xinhua reported that the Shenzhou-9 mission, carrying three people, will launch between June and August of this year. The mission will feature a rendezvous and docking with Tiangong-1, a module intended to test technologies for a future Chinese space station. China launched Tiangong-1 last September and, in November, launched the uncrewed Shenzhou-8 spacecraft to dock with the station. Shenzhou-9 will be the first Chinese human spaceflight since the Shenzhou-7 mission in 2008.